A Kunoichis Need
by Rictor Yagami
Summary: Both of them grieving from the death of Asuma. Shikamaru & Kurenai try to comfort one another. Unfortunately that comfort reaches a new level when sake is involved. Now they must decide where do they go from here and what about Temari? Lemons Shik/Kur/Tem
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. It is owned by Kishimoto and I wish this guy would already do three things. One, show more of Naruto and his training with Bee. Two have someone save Anko from Kabuto already. If he kills her I will be pissed off and kick his ass, along with cursing him. And three, I wish he would of done more when Hinata confessed her love for Naruto. Really now? Sigh. That's enough ranting.

Anyway this is my second Naruto Lemon story. And I decided to do a pairing that I think that has never been done before, with the sexy Kurenai Yuhi and the lazy but intelligent Shikamaru Nara. I hope you guys like this and review it, along with my other Naruto story. Also Kurenai will not be pregnant with Asuma's child. Enjoy!

() Thoughts

Chapter 1

Needful Love

Late one night, a lone Chunin was on his way to an apartment that housed a distraught woman. The reason for this was because that the female Jonin lost her lover during a mission against a criminal to an organization known as Akatsuki. The name of the victim who was the lover of the woman was Asuma Sarutobi, son of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and former member of the Shugonin Junishi to the Fire Daimyo.

The Chunin that was on his way to see the heartbroken kunoichi was the late Sarutobi student, who went by the name of Shikamaru Nara. He was lazy and not very motivated, but when it came to making strategy's he was an absolute genius. His teammates were his long time friend Choji Akamichi and Ino Yamanaka. Like the woman he was about to visit he and his team were heartbroken and upset with the lost of their sensei.

As for whom Shikamaru was going to see, it was the Genjutsu Mistress Kurenai Yuhi, who was the sensei to Team Eight. Shikamaru thought back on what gave him the idea to visit the heartbroken Kunoichi.

Flashback...

Shikamaru sat in the living room thinking over the strategy that he had in plane for when he and his team mates would kill the bastard that took the life of whom they looked up to during their time as a team. He was so deep in thought that he didn't realize someone walked up to him.

"Thinking about your plane kiddo?"

Shikamaru looked up to see his father Shikaku Nara.

"Yeah I'm thinking about that and something else."

"And what would that be?" The elder Nara asked.

Shikamaru thought about telling his father that he was thinking of Kurenai and that he couldn't stand to see the poor woman grieving for what had happened to her. But he decided to respond differently to his father. "It's nothing. I think you would find it troublesome."

His father didn't buy it. "Stop being troublesome, if I didn't know any better I would say it has something to do with Kurenai."

The young genius looked at his father in shock wondering how his father came up with that conclusion.

The elder Nara noticed the look his offspring gave and chuckled a little. He sat down next to his son and decided to have a chat with him.

"Word travels fast around Konoha, especially when it involves your comrades and family. I know it's been bothering you about Kurenai and that your worried about her seeing as those two were close."

"Was I that obvious?" Shikamaru asked. Seeing his father nod, he sighed and shook his head. "It's just that she's alone and I already gave my condolences, along with everyone else I know. But I can't help but feel she needs something more to help her with the pain she's going through. I'm afraid she might hurt herself or worse."

Shikaku nodded to his son's response. It was true in what he said as many shinobi who lost loved ones had took many different routes to deal with the pain. Some handled their pain with drinking; some handled their pain with fighting or missions. But some in the off chance ended their lives feeling that they had nothing to live for and wanted the pain to end.

The elder Nara decided to give his son advice, and hopefully it would help.

"Shikamaru, all I can say is that if you want to help Kurenai then you should be there for her as much as you possibly can. Comfort her in any way that you think might work best, but make sure to chose your words carefully on what you say to her. You might upset her more than she already is."

"But I won't know what to say to her. Yeah I mean me, Ino, and Choji are just as upset about Asuma-Sensei's death, but the difference is that she was his lover and we were his students. What should I say?"

"I can't help you with on what to say. You must find the right words on what to say. Again think carefully about what you say, and comfort her anyway that you think that might help."

Flashback End...

It took a while, but the son of Shikaku and Yoshino Nara thought about what to say and was hoping to ease the pain that Kurenai was going through.

As he stood in front of the door to the apartment that housed the Sensei of Team Eight, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

He waited for a minute, and was about to knock again, until the door slowly opened, causing him to go wide eyed.

(Kami. Everyone always said Kurenai was beautiful but I never saw her like this.)

Standing before the young Chunin, the Genjutsu Mistress was dressed in a red silk nightgown which hugged her figure. It was see through and revealed some of cleavage. Her legs were exposed as well showing her smooth light skin. She rubbed her eyes slightly and looked up tiredly to see who it was.

"Shikamaru? What are you doing here?"

Realizing that he was being speaking to, the young Nara quickly turned around to hide the blush on his face and spoke without facing her.

"I...uh...I just wanted to check up on you Kurenai-sensei." All the while was he thinking to himself.

(Why the hell am I getting nerves around Kurenai? Stupid question, I got a hot looking Jonin in a nightdress that I can see through and see her hot body.)

He then blinked and thought (Where did that come from?)

Kurenai was wondering why the young man's back was turned to her, until she realized the dress she was in. Deciding to put him at ease she put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Shikamaru, you can look. It doesn't bother me and I know you are not a pervert."

He turned around slowly, as he was surprised that Kurenai of all things would say something like that. Was she thinking right? He then noticed the scent of perfume but he also smelt the scent of alcohol. Specifically that of wine.

"Um...Okay if...you say so." He was wondering how long she was drinking after what happened to his sensei.

He walked into the apartment and closed the door behind him. As they were making their way to her bedroom, the young Nara noticed that she was stumbling a little which he guess correctly was due to the alcohol in her system. She sat down on the bed and gestured for him to sit next to her.

He sat down next to her and waited for a response from her. She did not disappoint him.

"So what brings you here Shikamaru? Are you going to say the same thing like your team mates said to me earlier?"

"Ino and Choji were here before?"

She nodded and then added, "Everyone I know pretty much visited me to make sure I was all right. Your team mates, Shizune, Anko-chan, and Kakashi, everyone I know pretty much said the same things like you are going to say." She reached over to a nearby table and picked up a glass of wine she had poured herself earlier and downed its contents in one gulp.

"And what would that be?" Shikamaru asked though he already knew what it was.

"That if I need anything, that you will always be near to help or my personal favorite I'm sorry about what happened to Asuma." She paused to take a deep breath as tears began to show in her eyes from just thinking about her dead lover. "I've...Already heard it from just about everyone so please...just leave me alone for a while."

Normally Shikamaru would listen to women since to him they usually get bossy or were just to troublesome to figure out what kind of moods they were in, but this involved someone who was close to his late sensei and needed a lot of support, even if it was just a shoulder to cry on. So with a deep breath he spoke carefully so not to upset her since she was a bit tipsy.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Kurenai sensei. It would be too troublesome if I just up and leave you alone for who knows what you might do to yourself. To be honest I don't know what it's like to lose someone you love, but I am sure it hurts more than anything physically possible."

Kurenai gave a dry chuckle and placed the glass down. She looked over at the Chunin and gave him a sad smile.

"Asuma always said you were too smart for your own good. There are only two people I know who could lose someone I love though."

Shikamaru thought for a moment and said the name of one person who came to mind. "I take it that one person is Tsunade. And the other?"

"Yugao Uzuki." She then stood up and walked over to the kitchen. After a minute she came back with two bottles and another glass for drinking. She set them down on the table and opened the first bottle which was Fire Water Sake, and poured herself a glass and filled the other one up. She then handed one glass to Shikamaru while taking the other to her lips and sipped it.

The son of Shikaku and Yoshino looked down at the offered glass in his hand then said, "Kurenai sensei. I'm sure if this is a good idea."

"If you are old enough to kill for the village, you are old enough to drink, from what I've been told by Anko." Was the Genjutsu Mistress reply.

The young man sighed and just decided to humor her. Taking a small drink he blanched a bit from the taste.

(Ugh. How could Asuma sensei and the other Jonin drink this crap? Well if my dad can stomach it, I'll give it a go.)

For about an hour the two talked and drink during their time together about Asuma and the memories they shared with him. Kurenai spoke about how Yugao went through the same pain she is going through right now and how she hoped her friend would find someone to love again after her lover had died years ago. She spoke about how she and Asuma grew up together during their time as Genin and Chunin, with a few funny moments in them.

"THAT HAPPEND TO ASUMA SENSEI? HAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MAN! HICK! I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN THAT!" Shikamaru laughed from what he heard. By this time he was on his seventh glass and was already drunk.

"I know." Kurenai laughed also from what she told him. "When he and I were chasing that stupid cat of the Daimyos wife he fell into the Inuzuka kennel. I never known he knew such colorful language! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Man that reminds me of when my team went after that stupid cat. I never saw Ino cry so much from getting scratch by that dame fur ball. She then went on whining about how she would not be good enough for Sa..." Shikamaru stopped in mid sentence and then his expression turned from one of joy to anger and disappointment.

"Shikamaru what's wrong?" Kurenai never saw him act like this. Sure he showed how he found things annoying but this look she saw scared her a little.

The young Nara sighed and said in a sad voice, "I'm sorry Kurenai sensei. It's just that when I think of that traitor Sasuke, I get angry since he is someone who doesn't deserve a second chance at being welcomed back in the Leaf." He paused to think on his next words, and then spoke. "Hell I don't know why Ino and Sakura still pin for that asshole, when all he's done is hurt everyone around him."

"I know what you mean." The pale skin beauty said. "To be honest I wish that Tsunade-Sama marked him as a missing nin, but since Naruto and Sakura want to save him she decided not to place him in that category." She shook her head at what she thought was a poor decision on the Hokage's part. "I would hate to see Naruto die because of someone he thought was a friend."

"I know what you mean." He said and had a look of disappointment. "I don't mean to sound like an asshole but Sakura is just as much to blame for putting Naruto through the trouble of bringing that guy back with that stupid promise."

"What do you mean?" She never got to hear Shikamaru's side of the story during the retrieval mission since she was away on an A-Rank mission.

Shikamaru began telling at the beginning of the mission to retrieve the Uchiha that Sakura came to Naruto and basically cried her eyes out and begged Naruto to bring Sasuke back. Shikamaru had told Kurenai of the hurt look Naruto had and even forced himself to smile and give his promise to her that he would not let her down.

Kurenai frowned at the promise that Naruto wanted to keep. In all honesty Naruto should not have to keep a promise that had almost got him killed and even now after all that's happened the young Uzumaki still wanted to keep the promise to a girl that would never love him back. It was wrong in her mind and even she thought that he deserved better.

(If only Hinata would get over her shyness and confront Naruto.) In all honesty Kurenai wanted to be happy and hearing of all the good deeds Naruto had done over the years she considered him a good man and a fine catch. She then heard Shikamaru continue about how he felt about the Uchiha and his former team mates.

"I'll be honest I don't like Sasuke at all. In fact I hate his guts for all the crap he put me and everyone I know through just because that spoiled brat wanted power to kill his brother." He took a large drink from his glass and breathed before continuing. "If only Naruto didn't make that promise, he would be a lot stronger and he would have someone there to actually love him. Sigh. If only he saw how Hinata felt about him."

"You know that Hinata has a crush on Naruto?" Kurenai was surprised to hear this.

Shikamaru gave Kurenai a knowing smirk and said, "It's not that hard to see all the signs Kurenai sensei. I mean all of us know about Hinata's feelings for him, but he doesn't even notice it especially with all the signs right in front of him."

"Then how come you didn't tell Naruto about it?" She figured that as a friend to the blonde shinobi that he would let him know something that could help make his life easier.

"It's not really my place to get involved. Plus I wouldn't know how to break it to him. Add the fact that he only see's Sakura as girlfriend material." He snorted in distaste. "If you ask me she is not all that pretty and is rather to shallow and to troublesome for my taste."

He then looked at Kurenai and said, "Naruto should be seeing Hinata like I see you. A rare beautiful flower that deserves to be loved and nurtured."

Kurenai was stunned by what the young man said before her, and she could not help but smile. Then without warning she started to cry.

Shikamaru became alarm at seeing the Genjutsu mistress in tears and wondered if he said something to upset her.

"Kurenai, what's wrong? I'm sorry if it's about what I said..."

She held up her hand to silence him and responded in a choked voice said, "It's...just that... (sniff)...that what you...said...(sniff)...is the same thing...that Asuma said to...me."

She began to cry a new.

Shikamaru began to panic and went over to the distraught woman taking her into a hug. When he did this she wrapped her arms around him and cried on his shoulder.

(Man I am an idiot. I wish I knew about this. What else can I do to calm her down?)

Without thinking any further he gently lifted Kurenai's head and kissed her. Her eyes widen in shock and she felt her arms go limp from the gentle kiss that she was receiving. At first she wanted didn't want to do this but two things stopped her. One was the booze in her system and the other was the fact she was enjoying this. She closed her eyes and returned the kiss to the young Nara, invading his mouth with her tongue.

Shikamaru was surprised to have the kiss return to him with much gusto, and didn't know why but he was enjoying this. After a minute or two of tongue lashing they broke for air. The son of Shikaku and Yoshino was the first to break the silence.

"Wow."

"Wow indeed. I never knew you were such a kisser Shika-kun."

(Shika-kun?) Thought the young Chunin in surprise and was not expecting for her next words.

"Shikamaru...I want you to fuck me."

"W-W-W-WHAT!"

(Lemon Time)

Without another word Kurenai lipped locked him again, while rubbing his crotch with her free hand. His eyes widen from the kunoichi's action and his arms went limp from the unexpected pleasure he was receiving from her.

(I...I shouldn't be doing this with her...but...Kami it feels so good.)

Kurenai could see the hesitating in his eyes and decided to be even more bold. She used her hands to undo his pants, making them drop to the floor, leaving him clad in only his boxers with his manhood already harden. Then she reached inside his boxers and gave a light pinch at the tip, causing him to groan in pleasure. With this action Shikamaru leaned forward with both his hands clasping on her breast giving them a light squeeze.

This made her moan as she then used one hand to gently lay him on the bed and her other hand to stroke his cock making it enlarge even more. They broke the kiss and the crimson eyed kunoichi looked down to see the tent in his boxers become even bigger. She then got off the bed and on her knees. Then with one quick motion she removed them and saw his unit.

"My Shikamaru, you are rather big for your age."

He was about eight inches' and without hesitation she began to lick his cock in a slow, steady rhythm while caressing his balls. She licks up and down not leaving a single part of his manhood dry while enjoying listing to his pleasured cries. Kurenai decided to take it up a notch and proceeded to suck on his balls making him even more aroused.

"AH...K-K-K-Kurenai-chan...Kami right their...oh yeah."

"You like that Shikamaru-kun? You want more?" She teased in a husky voice.

"Yes! Please take my cock in your mouth."

She gave a nymph smile and replied, "Since you asked so nicely." She gave a small nip at the tip of his cock, making him hiss a little. She then slowly took in his manhood and began to suck on it. Her head bobbed up and down, going fast by the minute while using chakra to increase the pleasure on the young Nara. She then gripped his cock to

stroke it while she sucked on it.

"OH YEAH! AHHHA! MMMMMMMM!"

After about a minute of oral sex, he felt like he was about to explode and made sure to give her a warning.

"Kurenai! I-I'm...goanna come!"

She could only brace herself as she felt Shikamaru's sex twitch and then she felt his release his hot seed right into her mouth and the back of her throat. She relaxed herself and allowed Shikamaru to continue releasing his seed and the feel of it was hot in her mouth as she slowly moved back and there was a last spurt and some of his seed got on her face but she didn't mind as she tasted the seed and found it to be nice to her taste buds and she swallowed it and saw Shikamaru looking at her with wide eyes and a fierce blush on his face.

She smiled at him and then spoke in a husky voice.

"You want to do the same thing with me Shikamaru-kun?"

Shikamaru nodded enthusiastically and Kurenai stood back up to remove the nightgown. Letting it drop to the floor she was clad in only a red thong. She turned her body around slowly to give the young Nara a little show of her near naked body. Shikamaru let his mouth hung open enjoying what he was seeing and wanted to jump her right then and there but was patient. After she was done, she made a come here gesture with her finger. He wasted no time and stood up to remove his shirt, letting it drop to the floor.

Taking Kurenai gently by the arms he laid on the bed, while caressing them making his way toward her breast. He laid next her and began to lick her harden nipples, enjoying the taste of her tits. Kurenai gasped in delight and squirm from the pleasure she was getting. Shikamaru then began sucking on her breast making her even more aroused. He then started kissing down toward her vagina, while marveling her smooth skin. When he reached to her covered private part, he took hold of the thong and pulled it off her to reveal her vagina. It was wet and without hesitation he slowly began to lick and kiss her pussy and when he her honey, he loved the taste and began to slowly pick up the pace...and he knew that she was enjoying this.

"Mmmmm...Shikamaru-kunnn...right there...yes!"

Kurenai gently guided Shikamaru as he explored her sex and she relished the pleasure as Shikamaru licked and kissed her wet sex as she felt herself getting hotter and wetter

with every sensation he gave her as he licked and kissed her sex...it was when she guided him to her clit and told him to gently part her outer lips did things get even hotter for Kurenai...Shikamaru followed her instructions and she was happy beyond belief as wave after wave of pleasure flooded her senses in the way she liked immensely as Shikamaru continued to lick and kiss her pussy, along with her clit.

(She's so hot...)

Shikamaru would stop and look at Kurenai on a few moments to see the deep blush on her face with each action he gave towards her and the way she said his name was very much intoxicating to the young ninja as he continued his actions and it was then that he decided to try something and pushed his tongue past Kurenai inner lips. The Jonin shouted his name and moaned, urging him on with pants and words thick with pleasure and he did so...pushing and pulling his tongue and he tasted her honey as it gushed out from her sex.

"SHIKAMARU! I'M GOING TO..."

Shikamaru held on and continued his actions on Kurenai's pussy and sure enough Kurenai felt her organism hit her and it was heavenly as she felt her body explode in pleasure. The young Nara felt her inner sex move in such a way that caressed his tongue that he couldn't help but feel enthralled by it all...Kurenai's new release of her inner juices were also a welcome as Shikamaru lapped up more of it.

Kurenai felt like she was in heaven and even though she felt her orgasm, she wanted to go to the next step.

"Shikamaru...I want you inside me...right now."

Kurenai turned over on her stomach and stood in a very provocative position, while shaking her ass begging for him to take her.

Shikamaru stood up and got behind her while placing his hands on her well shaped ass. He started to rub his manhood slightly against her vagina teasing her a bit and enjoying her moans, while telling him to take her. Then without further hesitation he slowly slid his manhood into her sex, making sure not to hurt her. They both cried out from the feel of each other's sex.

"Ahhhh!"

Shikamaru started to slowly go into Kurenai, and then slowly pulled back out seeing as this was his first time experiencing sex. He wasn't sure if this was Kurenai's first time and didn't want to cause her any discomfort. Then he began to go in deeper and faster, Kurenai shouting in pleasure and gasping with delight.

"That's it Shikamaru-kun...Mmmmm...fuck me! Fuck me hard."

"Kurenai...fuck you're so hot!"

The Genjutsu Mistress then began driving herself back meeting him on every in stroke, and this made the young Nara even more aroused by the action which resulted in him keeping a firm grip on her ass. He felt like he would burst into her at any moment from the wetness of her sex.

"HARDER! MMMMM! DEEPER!"

"OHHHH! FEEL'S GOOD!"

Then at the last moment they both hit their orgasm.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Shikamaru's hot seed flowed into Kurenai and the female Jonin felt him cum inside her. Both breathed heavily from the intense sex and Shikamaru pulled his manhood out of Kurenai's sex, forcing him to sit back on the bed. Before he could catch more of his breath he was pulled into a kiss by Kurenai, forcing him on top of her. After a minute of tongue lashing Shikamaru pulled back and saw the lust looked in her eyes.

"Again...I want to ride on top of you Shikamaru."

"Sigh...Troublesome woman."

"Shut up and fuck me."

With that she pushed him on his back and crawled over to his unit swaying her hips for him to see her ass shake. Her head was now over his cock and began to suck on it to harden it again using chakra to increase the pleasure. He moaned in pleasure from the treatment gripping the bed sheets and asking Kurenai to get on top of him already. When his manhood hardens once more Kurenai stopped and straddled on top of him, taking him inside her once again.

Kurenai started riding on top of him, gasping and screaming with delight from the intense sex she was having with him, her body covered in sweat, while Shikamaru thrusted upwards keeping it a steady rhythm. She leaned on top of him, her breast pressed against his chest and she enveloped him in another lust filled kiss which he returned with much gusto. Then Shikamaru decided to turn Kurenai over and had her on her back, while they were still lashing each other's tongues. He thrusted even harder into the beautiful kunoichi, feeling her hands on his back and then her legs wrapped around him pulling him into her more. Then after a minute or two they hit their orgasm's shouting at the same time.

"AHHHHHHH!"

This caused them both to go into bliss unconsciousness.

(Lemon End)

The next morning...

Shikamaru groaned as he felt his head pound. He could not believe how much he drank last night and wondered if Kurenai let him sleep over since he was wasted. He shifted a little and his hands felt something very soft, round, and smooth.

(What a minute...this isn't a pillow.)

Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes to see what he was lying on and his eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets. What he was lying on was a pair of breast which nearly caused him to scream. He looked up to see the sleeping form of Kurenai Yuhi, looking peaceful and happy. The events from last night all came back to him and he could swear that if word got out about what he had done with Kurenai, he knew his mom would go ape shit and his team mates might not be happy with him, thinking he took advantage of the distraught woman.

(What the hell am I goanna say to Kurenai when she wakes up?)

He then heard a moan and saw that she was starting to wake up, which caused him to go pale. He could only brace himself for the sure to come beat down by the female Jonin.

Kurenai opened her eyes, her vision a blur and her head pounding a little from last night's drinking. She then noticed that she felt something on her chest which caused her to place a hand on whatever it was. She felt a mess of hair, making her eye's snap open. Looking down she noticed that Shikamaru had a look of absolute fear on his face. It was then she remembered last night's event. None of them spoke for what seemed like an eternity, when it was only a minute. Finally Shikamaru broke the silence.

"Ku-Ku-Kurenai-sensei...a-a-about l-last night..."He stuttered from fright.

"Don't say a word." Was her response as she gave him a look that would make the Kyuubi's glare seem tame.

He could only gulp and hoped that whatever punishment she had in mind that he would live to see the next sunrise. He then felt himself being force onto his back and saw that she was on top of him, both hands on his shoulders.

"Do you have anything to say?" She said in cold voice.

He could only look at her with sad eye's knowing whatever he said could never take away her anger. Signing he said in a voice full of regret and sadness.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. We were both drinking, but I didn't kiss you to take advantage of you. I was only trying to...comfort you."

He closed his eyes expecting to receive a beat down, but instead felt his lips pressed against her causing his eye's to snap open laying there in shock. After the kiss was broken off, the look in her eye's changed to one of understanding and happiness?

"Thank you for being honest with me Shikamaru."

Shikamaru could only think of one word to say at this.

"Huh?"

"Anyone else would of just blown this off and not regret it. But you are like Asuma and you take responsibility for the things you do. And to be honest I was a lot more forward last night than you were." She then gave him that same look from before. "But if you tell anyone and I'll make you regret it."

"Yes Kurenai-sensei!" He quickly said.

She kissed him again. "Come back safe."

Shikamaru could only nod and went to get dress.

"Oh and Shikamaru."

"Yes?"

She gave him a sly smirk.

"If Temari finds out, tell her I won't mind sharing you with."

He could only nod dumbly while his face had a huge blush on it.

To Be Continued...

Well here is my second one shot Naruto lemon story. Please read and review it and let me know what you all think.

First off I want to apologize for not updating my other story. Real life has not been kind to me as of late and it involves the death of someone close to me and my family. Last month my sister's pet cat Buda, who was a part of the family died last month from sickness. She was very old as well, and I believe she was seventeen years old. It hurt's still because she was with my family for so long and I just felt empty and sad. I hope she is in heaven and watching over me and those she loved.

Now I'm sure you are all wondering about the poll I set up on who to vote for. And I want to try my hand at a Devil May Cry crossover. But here is a question for you guys. Should I combine all the three of the characters into one story or do one separately for the three anime characters? Please let me know when you review this story and I hope you review my other stories. I hoped you guys like this one.

Last night I read the newest chapter to the Naruto manga and I was disappointed to say the least. I wanted to see the battle between Team Ten and their sensei, but Kishimoto has to kill the moment by changing the fight scene to Hanzo and Mifune.

And I hope to get into college this month so wish me luck.

Oh yeah another question and it involves my Naruto's Desires story. Should I make more chapters for it and explain on how Naruto got engaged to the other women, and make some lemon scenes with each of them? Let me know.

Just so everyone knows I have made corrections to this chapter and the other two chapters, along with changing the titles for Chapters Two and Three. I hope you all like the changes.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. It is the property of one

Mushashi Kishimoto. I am just making this story for fun.

This is the second chapter to A Kunoichi's Need, and to be honest I wish I came out with this story first. The problem was I didn't know what to put down so I decided to try my hand at writing a different lemon story involving my favorite pairing. I am thinking about doing a rewrite for Narutos Desires in the near future, until then I hope you like this second chapter.

Also I said it before and I will say it again. I will kick Kishimoto's ass if he kills off Anko. And I will curse him as well.

Please enjoy this.

Chapter 2

'' Thoughts

Friends Advice

'What a drag, how did I get into this mess?'

Was the thought troubling a young man named Shikamaru Nara.

It was about a couple of days ago when he visited Kurenai Yuhi one night and after having a lot of drinks with her, they ended up making love. It was not that he did it intentionally. He only wanted to try and comfort her for her loss to the man she loved, which was his teacher and second father figure Asuma Sarutobi.

Luckily for him the Genjutsu Mistress did not beat the crap out of him and even said she was glad that he was honest about how he felt and that he was willing to take responsibility for what happened.

However the son of Shikaku and Yoshino Nara knew that even if he had been intoxicated still felt guilty at what he had done not only to Kurenai, but even worse to Temari, someone that he had been dating for over three years now, someone that he was deeply in love with.

'If Gaara or even Kankuro were to find out about this, they would go ape shit and torture me before killing me.'

He shuddered as he remembered during his time in the Chunin Exam when he saw how brutal Temari's younger brother was to Rock Lee. If it was not for Naruto bringing back Tsunade, Lee would have been crippled for life.

The problem was how was he going to deal with what happened and if there was ANYONE he could talk to about this. He considered talking with his parents but then shot that idea down.

His mother was more than likely to blow an air gasket and rant about him drinking at such a young age, not to mentioning about having sex with a woman that was at least ten years older than him.

There was also the fact that both Temari and Shikamaru's mother have become close to each other over the three year's when she came to Konoha as Suna's ambassador and Yoshino thought of her as the daughter she wanted.

His father might be more understanding but he knew for sure that he would not get off so easy. True he was lazy, but he would also react like any normal parent when it came to their kids. He then considered talking to his friends Ino and Choji, but then he shook his head. Ino would most likely blab about it before giving him an earful and a butt kicking for taking advantage of the red eye Jonin. And if word got out of what he did, it would cause trouble for his family.

Choji would be more understanding of his friends plight and would support him through thick and thin. He was pretty sure that the Akamichi heir would most likely insist that he and Kurenai were not at fault for what happened since they were both drunk.

The distraught young man was so conflicted about the situation he was in. He didn't know what to do or even who to talk to since it involved something that was not fight related or even in a game of shogi.

'I wonder if Asuma-sensei would ever forgive me for what I've done?'

He was so deep in thought that he did not notice he was walking right into

someone.

WHOMP!

"Ow! Sorry about that I didn't see where I was going."

"That's a first for you Shikamaru."

The young Nara looked to see who he ran into. It was Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja and Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi Naruto Uzumaki. The student of Jiraiya had changed his look and had grown over the years since he last saw him.

It was also thanks to him that his team was able to avenge their sensei against the ones that killed him, with a powerful new version of the late Yondaime technique the Rasengan.

"Oh hey Naruto, sorry about that I wasn't paying attention."

"Is something bothering you?" Asked the blond shinobi's question.

Shikamaru hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

"It's nothing I was just lost in thought."

The young Uzumaki however was not buying it and decided to make it known.

"Don't lie to me all right, I may be dense sometimes but I'm not stupid. Something is bothering you and I can tell when you bumped into me."

"What are you saying?"

"You had this look on your face like you just betrayed someone close to you and it must be someone your close to right?"

This shocked the young Chunin greatly as he never expected someone like Naruto to tell or even notice facial expressions on people.

The blond ninja saw this and frowned at his friend which alarmed him.

"W-What? What I do?"

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you think I couldn't tell what was bothering you just from looking at your face. But then again everyone including you still thinks I'm an idiot."

Sighing Naruto turned around and began to walk away from Shikamaru feeling sad that he was still being doubted by people.

This caused the young Nara to snap out of his stupor and run up to his friend calling out to him.

"Naruto! Wait up!"

The student of Jiraiya stopped and turned to see his friend run up to him.

"Look I'm sorry all right, it's just something happened a few days ago and it involves Kurenai-sensei."

"Do you want to talk at your usual spot where you go to watch clouds?"

"Sure."

The two made their way to the young Nara's usual spot and sat there.

"Okay so what is bothering you? I figure you would be happy since you got revenge for Asuma-sensei so what's bugging you?"

Shikamaru sighed as what he was about to tell his friend could ether help him or work against him.

"It's about Kurenai-sensei."

"What about her?"

"A couple of days ago right before we were going after the two members of the Akatsuki, I went over to her apartment to see if she was all right."

"And...?" The blond inquired.

"When I got there she was drinking a little." He decided to leave out the part of her answering the door in her night dress since he still got flashes of those images from time to time.

"Was she drunk?"

"She was a little bit and I decided to have a talk with her about what happened. She didn't want to at first but I insisted we did just so she can get it off her chest."

He paused for a moment and took a deep breath on what he was about to say next.

"We talked for a little and then she offered me a drink."

"You said no right?"

"I did at first, but then she brought up the whole old enough to kill, old enough to drink thing. It was a drag."

"Then you only had one drink so why..."

"I had MORE than one drink with her Naruto. Kami I don't know how many I had. For who knows how long Kurenai and I talked about our times with Asuma, our missions, and even you guys."

"Really. Did you tell her about my kick ass new technique?"

He shook his head as what he was about to say next could spell disaster.

"Sorry I didn't bring that up. But I said something unintentionally that made her cry."

"But it's not like you meant it right? If you and Kurenai were drinking for as long as you think you probably didn't mean it."

"I didn't say anything mean to her." He sighed. "What I said was something that Asuma-sensei said to her once before."

"What was it?"

"I called her a rare beautiful flower that deserves to be loved and nurtured."

Naruto couldn't help but feel bad for the red eye Jonin. He was very sure that anyone who received such praise and compliments like that would be happy to have someone like that in her life.

'I just wish Sakura would feel that way about me.' The young man thought sadly. He then nodded for his friend to continue.

"When she started crying I did my best to calm her down, but I didn't know what to say or do for that matter. My old man told me to try to comfort her in any way I could so without thinking I..." He paused.

"You did what?" His friend wondering what came next.

"...I...I kissed her." The Chunin said in a barely whispered voice.

The area was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, even with the wind lightly blowing. Then Naruto reacted.

"Y-Y-Y-You...kissed her?" Naruto asked shocked and struck dumb. He NEVER expected Shikamaru of all people to kiss someone who was considered the Ice Queen of Konoha.

"It's true. What came next is something I NEVER thought would EVER happen in a million years."

"What did you guys...?" Naruto started to say but then stopped when he realized what his friend was about to tell him and to say that he was surprised was an understatement.

"You mean...you guys...had SEX!"

Shikamaru held his head down, unable to look at his friend. All he could do was nod at what happened.

Naruto could only stare and see the guilt his friend felt, and to be honest he felt sorry for him. Then the young Nara decided to tell what came next.

"When morning came I woke up and found myself in bed with her. I was so shocked at what I did I felt like I was goanna die if she woke up."

"Did she?"

"She did, and I was so scared I thought she was going to beat the shit out of me for what we did."

"I can see that she didn't otherwise you wouldn't be with us for that mission so what did she do?"

"When she woke up she asked if I had anything to say to for what happened and I told her I was sorry for what I done and I only kissed her to comfort her, I didn't mean to take advantage of her."

He took a deep breath and what he said next surprised the young Uzumaki.

"I closed my eyes waiting for the eventual beat but instead...she kissed me."

"W-W-WHAT?"

Now THAT was something Naruto did NOT expect to happen.

"Are you serious?"

Shikamaru looked him in the eyes and the look he had told his friend he was one hundred percent honest about what took place.

"I'm not joking. She even told me thank you and said that anyone else would of blown this off and not regret it, but was glad I was honest and that I was willing to take responsibility."

He decided to leave out the part about her not minding sharing him with Temari as he was not sure if she was serious and was only joking.

Naruto had his mouth hanging open after hearing something that his perverted master Jiraiya would love to hear and probably add to one of his books.

"So now you see why I feel miserable. I feel like I betrayed Temari and even though both Kurenai and I were intoxicated I still feel guilty about what I've done." He held his head down in shame after he told Naruto of his plight.

"And now I have no idea on how I should handle this."

The student of Jiraiya was silent for a little bit and decided to speak his mind to his distraught friend.

"I think you should be honest with Temari and tell her everything."

Shikamaru's head snapped up and looked at him.

"What?"

Naruto gave him a serious look and said in a stern voice.

"Shikamaru, if you really feel this bad you should let her know about this and not hide it from her. Let her know how much you love her since I can see that you care for her more than anything."

"It's not that simple!" He argued. "Do you honestly think she is just going to blow this off and say it's all right? She would more than likely try to smash my head in with that giant fan of hers."

"If you don't say anything though it will only get worse." The student of Jiraiya countered. "You will continue to feel miserable and if Temari doe's find out on her own or if somebody tells her then it will be even worse."

Naruto took a deep breath to continue.

"If you think about it, it might cause both Konoha and Suna trouble since Temari is not only a ambassador of her home, but is the sister of Gara and it could start bad relations between our homes. Maybe even war. And there is also the fact you love her, so for both your sakes you should come clean for not just you and her, but for both your family's. I don't want to see ether of you miserable."

Shikamaru sat there shocked by what he heard. He then got into his usual thinking position to go over on how to weigh his options.

He could tell the older sister of Gaara the truth and only hope that she wouldn't kill him for what happen. But knowing Temari she would kick the crap out of him before accepting his apology. Not that he was concerned with getting beat-up by his girlfriend; he deserved it for what he had done.

However, Shikamaru was worried about what would happen to Kurenai. He was certain that the Genjutsu Mistress could handle herself in a fight, she was a Jonin after all, but that might cause a war to break out for both villages if a battle were to occur. If he were to keep quiet about it though, he knew Naruto was right and it would only worsen the situation more than it already is. He couldn't think of anything else except that it would be best for him and Temari to go their separate ways and hope for the best. Temari was a special girl and certainly deserved better than a louse like him for a boyfriend.

Finally he sighed and gave his answer.

"You're right Naruto, I'll come clean with Temari and I just hope things will work out for us both, and I'll break up with her."

Naruto was surprised to hear this and said.

"Shikamaru, I wasn't saying you needed to break-up with Temari, just tell her the truth. I know it will be hard, but hopefully she will forgive you and you two can work things out."

"You could be right and she might forgive me, but I can never forgive myself for what I did to her and Temari deserves someone who isn't a low-life cheating bastard like I am."

"Well it's your decision; I hope things will work out for you Shikamaru. To be honest, I was always jealous of the relationship you and Temari had with one another. I always hoped I could have that type of relationship with Sakura-chan for myself."

That was when the Nara heir decided to give the blond ninja some help in his love life. Remembering that he spoke to Kurenai before about Hinata and how she was in love with Naruto. Shikamaru figured it was time to clue Naruto in on the worst kept secret in the village.

"Naruto, you need to quit focusing all your attention on Sakura. She's never going to be that girl for you because she's too obsessed with the Uchiha asshole and always will be. However, if you would just open your eyes and take a look around, you would see the girl who you could have that relationship with you were so jealous of between me and Temari before I screwed it all up."

"Huh, who are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Hinata."

"H-H-Hinata?"

This confused Naruto as he wondered why the young Nara would suggest her.

Shikamaru saw this and decided to let him know about the Hyuga's feelings for the blond knucklehead.

"Naruto you may not realize this but Hinata has loved you since our day's back in the academy. In fact over the years she has wanted to be with you, but was too shy to even ask you out. Not to mention you were always too busy paying attention to Sakura."

"Then how come you or nobody else ever told me about this?"

The Nara heir sighed and spoke the truth that should not have been kept from him.

"To be honest, I and everyone else were hoping ether you would figure it out or that Hinata would get over her shyness and work up the courage to ask you out herself."

"But why does she like me?"

"I think you should ask her that yourself to find out."

He then gave the blond a stern look to let him know how serious he was.

"Naruto I want you to stop and think about Sakura's treatment of you and how Hinata has treated you since our younger days up until now. Also you have to ask yourself this. Has Sakura ever shown any signs of really returning any affection to you? I mean look at all the evil deeds Sasuke has done and yet she still pines away for him like she did when she was 12. And even if by some miracle Sakura finally did give up on Sasuke and went to you. Do you really want to be in a relationship with someone knowing you were the second choice to her heart? Don't you deserve to be the first choice to someone?"

"Y-yeah, I deserve to be a first choice."

"Well then you can and you are already, but not with Sakura and you know it. I think if truly compare Sakura to Hinata then the choice is pretty easy to make."

Shikamaru then patted Naruto on the back and walked away, leaving his blonde friend in deep contemplation about what the Nara heir had said to him.

At the Dango Shop...

Temari of the Desert, Jonin and sister to Gaara sat with her friends Ino, Hinata, and Ten-Ten enjoying their treats while chatting about missions and events that happened.

"So how have you been since you, Naruto and that slacker took down those bastards from the Akatsuki?"

"I feel a whole lot better now that Asuma-sensei can rest in peace." Was the Yamanaka Heiress answer. She couldn't be happier and hoped things would continue to go well for herself and her team.

"Kurenai-sensei is overwhelmed with joy and is at ease." Came the voice of one Hinata Hyuga. She had been worried about her sensei after the loss of her lover, but was happy to learn that she was relieved to know that he was avenged and was a lot better.

But she was still worried about Naruto and learned about his ordeals with Sasuke and the criminal organization known as Akatsuki that was after him. She had no idea on why they wanted him but she promised herself they wouldn't get him.

Ten-Ten decided to bring up the subject on a certain member of Ino's team.

"Speaking of Shikamaru what has he been doing lately? Do you think he might try to get himself promoted after this?"

"Who knows? If I know him he will probably think it would be too troublesome."

Came the reply of the Suna kunoichi.

"Are you sure?" The Hyuga Heiress asked. "He might want to get a promotion to

honor his sensei and maybe one day lead a team like he did."

Temari thought over on the Hyuga Heiress's words and couldn't help but concur with her fellow kunoichi. After all if anything the late Sarutobi would want him to be a great leader of a squad.

"Come to think of it he might do that, but he will need some motivation." Was the Suna kunoichi reply to the lavender eyed beauty. She then decided to ask Hinata a question that has bugged her for a while.

"Hinata I was wondering about something."

"Yes Temari?"

"When are you going to ask Naruto out for a date?"

This caused Hinata to go red in the face and she began to twiddle her fingers

while stuttering her response.

"W-W-Well I-I-I'm not r-re-really sure how T-Temari."

This caused her friends to frown a little and she noticed it.

"W-What's wrong?"

Ten-Ten decided to be the one to speak first about the subject they were on.

"Hinata you really need to get over this shyness of yours or you may never get a chance with Naruto ever. It's been over three years since he came back to the village and you still haven't worked up on what you want to say to him?"

"I-I know Ten-Ten, but..."

"No buts about it." Ino cut in. "Look we know you care for the blond knucklehead and even I can see that you are a lot more nicer than even forehead is to him."

"That's the thing. Naruto-kun cares for Sakura a lot and has always been that way since they were younger." Was the shy heiress response and then added, "Also Naruto-kun had made a promise to her to bring back Sasuke."

Gaara's sister frowned at the mentioning of the traitorous Uchiha. Like everyone else she had heard about him betraying the Leaf in order to join Orochimaru for power to kill his brother, Itachi Uchiha.

When she was with Shikamaru she learned about the promise that the blond Uzumaki made to Sakura and she didn't like it at all. To be honest it did more harm than good for Gaara's friend and after all Naruto went through in life he deserved better. She decided to share her thoughts with her friend.

"Hinata that might mean well and all but as far as I can see that promise is hurting Naruto more than it is helping him, and as much as I hate to say this but it is also hurting Konoha as well."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is even if he brought Sasuke back, do you really think the village would welcome him home with open arms? They would see him as nothing more than another traitor like his brother and Orochimaru. As for Sakura, I doubt she would ever thank him for bringing that asshole back."

"Sakura wouldn't do that to him." Ino said in her friend's defense. "I mean yeah

she can get annoyed with Naruto but I don't think she would ever be that shallow to him since he's done so much for her and a lot of other people."

"I'm sorry to say this but Temari is right Ino." Came the reply of Might Gai's student Ten-Ten.

"You can't be series!" She protested.

The Weapons Mistress however was going to let the others know about something that her teammate Lee had told her before.

"I'm sorry Ino, but Sakura was being selfish in having Naruto make that promise to her and there is something you guys should know. Do you remember when he brought back Lady Tsunade?"

Everyone nodded as they heard of how the Fifth Hokage came back thanks to him.

"Well here is something that I didn't know until about a year ago."

She took a deep breath and sighed to keep her cool, since she did get upset from hearing about it.

"When Lee and I were training I asked him before about who did Lady Tsunade see before him and he told me that it was Sasuke and Gai-sensei's rival Kakashi. That was when I learned about what Sakura did and it was when he and Naruto were sparing when he was still in the village that she didn't even thank him."

This had surprised the three and they made it known.

"What?"

"It's true and he told me that Uzumaki was hurt by the fact she didn't thank him

for it and just cried over that jerk." She couldn't help but frown and decided to tell the rest of what happened. "When he asked him how come he didn't mention

to Sakura about it, do you know what he told Lee?"

They shook their heads and leaned forward waiting for the response.

"He told Lee it didn't matter because he was glad that Sakura was happy and that

since Sasuke was his friend it was all right so long as she wasn't sad."

The three of them could not help but feel sympathetic and upset about what they learned about from Ten-Ten. They felt sympathetic for the blond knuckle head because what he did was considered selfless and without a doubt undying love and loyalty for those he cared about. They felt upset at Sakura because she not only did she beg and pleaded for Naruto to bring back the Uchiha to her, but to learn she never thanked him for bringing back the one who got said Uchiha out of the coma he was placed in was just shallow and selfish in their eyes.

Temari was wondering if the pink haired girl did the same thing during the invasion between the Chunin Exams three years back when Naruto fought her brother and saved everyone from him when he released his demon. She would have to ask the blond Jinchuriki later about that.

As for Hinata she hoped that she could find Naruto and see if what she heard was true about what she had just heard. While she had no ill will against Sakura she

didn't like how she treated Naruto before, even with his return to the village.

Ino for her part was rather ticked off and made a mental note to talk to her friend about this and hoped it wasn't true. While Naruto did act annoying and sometimes dumb there was no reason for the treatment he received at the hands of the apprentice of Tsunade. He already had enough problems with the Akatsuki after him and it was a miracle he hadn't gone insane.

Before anything else could be said a new voice appeared. Two voices that is.

"Temari."

"Hinata."

Said women turned at the sound and found themselves looking at the one they were

talking about in question and the slacker of the new Ino-Shika-Cho Trio.

"H-H-Hello N-Naruto." Hinata said to her crush.

"Shikamaru, we were just talking about you two. What's up?" Ino asked.

Both the young Uzumaki and Nara looked to each other and nodded to one another, then spoke to the ones they wanted to speak with.

"Hinata..."

"Temari..."

"...we need to talk." They both said at the same time.

The look in their eyes confused the said women and Gaara's sister decided to answer for herself and the Hyuga Heiress.

"Can you speak freely to us or is this a private matter?"

"I want to speak with you privately Temari." Shikamaru said.

"Hinata, I would like to talk with you alone if you don't mind."

For Hinata, she couldn't help but feel nerves and excited for obvious reasons.

Naruto wanted to talk with her and in secret of all things. She then calmed down as it was probably something to get his mind off of. With that she nodded and went next to him.

The sister of Gaara did the same and went up to her boyfriend.

Soon the four of them left the Dango shop and went separate ways from each other. Both young men hoping on what they were about to do would go well for them both.

To Be Continued...

Well that about doe's it for the second chapter of this story. I got some requests from others to make another chapter and I hope this will suffice to

them. This was rather long and I decided to break it off into two parts.

Before I forget I want to give thanks to KingKakashi for helping me with this story from his suggestions and I want those who review this story to give him

props as well please. I couldn't have done most of this without him.

Yes there was no sex this chapter but the next and final chapter there will be and it will show the outcome for Shikamaru and Naruto as they both receive the answers they seek.

Will Hinata confess her love for the blond knucklehead? And will Temari still love our favorite slacker after she learns of the truth on what he did? Plus what will happen to Kurenai? Stay tuned.

Before I forget again, I hope to receive one more vote for the poll I currently have up and perhaps stat on said crossover. Again stay tuned.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I said it before and I will say it again. I do not own Naruto though I wish I did. It belongs to one Kishimoto, and let's leave it as that.

This is the third chapter of the story and I plane to make another chapter after this one. There will be no lemon scene this chapter but I'm sure the next or fifth chapter may have one, and now on with the show.

''Thoughts

Chapter 3

The Break Up

Shikamaru Nara was quietly walking next to his girlfriend Temari No Subaku toward the young Nara's usual spot when he wanted to do cloud watching with his friend Choji. Nothing was said between the two for about an hour and Temari was getting a little impatient about it.

'What could this slacker want to tell me that he couldn't say in front of the others?' She thought to herself and silently hoped it wasn't anything bad.

As for the Nara in question he was pondering on how to start off on what he wanted to say to Gaara's sister without any series repercussions before breaking up with her. He came up with one idea by starting off with a question that came to mind which he would ask her when they reached the spot they were going to.

When they reached their destination Temari turned around and started off by saying, "Well were here, so what is it that was so important that you couldn't just say it in front of the others?"

Shikamaru took a deep breath as he prepared for the storm ahead.

"Temari, we've been going out with each other for over three years now right?"

She nodded her head to him.

"And since then despite a lot of troublesome problems that came our way we have worked through them, and I don't just mean missions ether."

Again she nodded to him, though she started tapping her foot with her arms crossed under her chest.

'Man I got to stop beating around the bush already. I just hope she will hear me out before she bash's my brains in for what I'm about to tell her.' He knew she was going to say something any minute and that would be when he would tell her, and she did not disappoint him.

"What is the point of all this Shikamaru? You're making it sound like you did something to betray my trust and our relationship."

"That's just it Temari. The truth is I think we should break up and not see each other anymore, because honestly I don't deserve you and you deserve to be with someone better."

There was a long moment of silence between the two as nothing was said.

It was so quiet that you could hear the wind blow. That silence was broken when the words sunk into Temari and she responded.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT TO BREAK UP?"

The people in the village jumped in surprise from the shout that was heard and wondered who could shout like that besides their Hokage?

Twenty minutes earlier before the outburst...

Hinata Hyuga was nervous and happy at the moment and for good reason.

Sitting next to her was her long time crush and love interest was one Naruto Uzumaki the number one unpredictable ninja of Konoha.

They were in the Hyuga estate and were in the backyard of the training grounds that she and her family would use to train in their clans fighting styles. Hiashi, along with Neji and Hinata's younger sister Hanabi were surprised to see the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi in their home. What was even more surprising was that he and Hinata wanted to speak with each other privately with one another. Hinata's father considered their request and decided to grant it to them, but reminded Jiraiya's pupil to be on his best behavior. Now the young girl was wondering what was going through his mind.

As for the blond shinobi of said girls affection he was a little nervous and was thinking on what to ask first of the girl before him, as he was not sure how to say something without sounding like an idiot.

'Man what would Shikamaru do in a time like this? Maybe I should just be honest and ask her if what he said is true about her liking me since our day's back in the academy.'

"Is...T-there s-something y-y-you wanted to ask me...Naruto-kun?"

He was broken out of his thoughts from the shy heiress of the Hyuga clan and decided to just wing it. Taking a deep breath to compose himself he decided to be honest.

"Hinata you are wondering right now why I wanted to talk with you in private and not in front of everyone from before right?"

She nodded her head to him and indicated for him to continue.

"Well to be honest there is something that I learned about today and it involves you and me, so there is something I want to know."

This caused Hinata's heart to skip a beat and it showed on her face that she was shocked by what she heard.

'Does he know about how I feel about him?'

She got her answer in the form of a question.

"Hinata...is it true that you liked me since are days back in the academy?"

She became red in the face and out of reflex started twiddling with her fingers together while repeating to herself, 'Must no faint, Must not faint.'

Looking into his eyes she answered with as much confidence as she could muster and gave her response.

"It's true Naruto-kun...I have liked you and have even admired you since our time in the academy. It is because of you that I gained strength and the courage I need to get where I am today."

"What do you mean you gained strength from me?" He was surprised that someone like Hinata gave him such praise.

The shy girl paused to gather her thoughts in order to speak her mind and heart out to her intended love interest. When she was read she began to speak to her crush on her feelings for him.

"I used to always cry and give up...I nearly went the wrong way."

She paused for a moment thinking back on her past when she didn't have as much confidence, until her memories of Naruto came to mind and spoke again to him.

"But you...you showed me the right way...I wanted to be with you...I just wanted to walk with you...I was always chasing you...wanting to overtake you...you changed me. Your smile saved me."

Naruto was shocked by what he heard from the lavender eyed beauty in front of him, and what she said next was evening more surprising and shocking. Looking at him she smiled warmly and spoke from her heart.

"It's because...I love you Naruto-kun."

The young blonde could not believe what he just heard from the Hyuga heiress. He had wanted to hear those words so badly from Sakura and yet to hear those from Hinata sounded just right. He began to recall the words his friend Shikamaru and he wondered why he never bothered to figure out why Hinata acted the way she did around him. The way she blushed when he was around her, the food she served him during missions, and the special ointment that she had giving to him during the Chunin Exams.

He started wondering how he could have missed such signs and reactions from her. That was when he realized he always chased after Sakura and never gave her or any other girl for that matter a chance to get to know them better. Then again many of the girls back in the academy were always going after Sasuke. Ino and Sakura were the worst of the group wanting to capture the Uchiha's heart. All except Hinata, and now he felt bad for never getting to know her.

But then he started thinking about what would happen once she learned about the Kyuubi in him and was afraid that she might reject him on the spot, maybe even hate him.

"Naruto-kun, are you all right?"

He was snapped out of his thoughts and saw the worried look on her face.

Naruto decided to answer her to ease her worries.

"I'm fine Hinata, it's just that I'm shocked and to be honest...I don't know what to say, or even if I deserve your feelings for me."

"Why would you say that?"

Taking a deep breath the young Uzumaki gathered his thoughts to make sure he said nothing wrong to offend Hiashi's daughter and then spoke to her.

"I'm saying I don't feel like I deserve your feelings because all this time I've been so focus on trying to get Sakura's affection and when I heard from Shikamaru that he and everyone else knew I just felt so stupid and ashamed that I never picked up on it."

Hinata decided to ease her intended love interest and spoke to him once more to let him know he should not be ashamed of how he felt.

"You shouldn't feel that way Naruto-kun. After hearing what you just said right now, I feel I too share the blame."

"Why would you say that? I'm the one who didn't notice you."

"I say I share the blame as well because instead of telling you how I felt and not asking if you felt the same way, I chose to follow you silently and was too shy to let you know."

The young Uzumaki couldn't help but feel bad at what Hinata said to him, and he knew he shared the blame as well since he never talked to her or any other girl during his time in the academy and he was still a kid for kami sake's. So he decided to let her know that he to share the blame.

"If it makes you feel any better Hinata, I feel it's my fault as well since I was so busy chasing after Sakura that I never got to know more about you or any of the other girls for that matter back in the academy. Heck we were only kids back then, so I'm sorry Hinata-chan."

"I'm sorry too Naruto-kun." She smiled happily as she felt a lot better now and hoped that they would develop a relationship. A thought then came the Hyuga heiress mind and decided to ask the blonde ninja a question.

"Naruto-kun, I would like to ask you something."

"Sure Hinata-chan what is it?"

"Why did you chase after Sakura for so long? What was it that made you want to give your heart to her?"

This had surprised him and he decided to think back on why he developed a crush for Sakura and why he went after her for so long. It was then that a remembered from his memory's when he was very young and this was a year before the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

Flashback...

It was a warm day in the village and everyone was going about his or her business. Children were running around playing and having fun while their parents were talking amongst themselves over the usual things that adults discuss with one another.

Everyone was having a good day all except one person. Sitting on one of the swings by himself was a young boy no older than six who was wearing an orange t-shirt with the Konoha symbol on the front and had on a pair of blue shorts. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and the most noticeable thing about him was that he had six whisker marks on his face. This child was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

He couldn't understand why no one wanted to play with him. The other kids would ether call him names or ignore him whenever he asked to play with the other children. The only ones who did play with him were Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba since they liked to ditch class now and then.

But when the time came for them to leave with their family, he was alone by himself once more, wishing that he had parents like everyone else. It didn't help when the parents told their kids to stay away from Naruto, and he always was looked at with hate and disdain as if he had done something wrong to them. There were even times that the citizens of the village would go after Naruto and try to hurt him, and even tried to end his life.

'What is it that I've done to be hated so much? Why can't I have a family to protect and love me as well?' He had always asked himself this question since the time he could walk, but he never could find the answers.

He was about to leave back to his apartment when he heard something going on a few feet away from where he was sitting. Curious he decided to go and have a look to see what it was making the noise. When he got there he saw a pink haired girl crying and holding her arm which had a bruised on it.

Wondering how she got hurt he went over to where she was sitting.

"Are you okay?"

The girl looked up to see who was talking to her and was surprised to see it was Naruto. Now like every other child's parent her mother told her to stay away from Naruto saying he was a trouble maker and a bad kid. She decided to tell him nothing was wrong hoping he would leave her alone.

"It's nothing. I just tripped and fell that's all."

The young blond however didn't believe her as he could see in her eye's that it was something else that caused her to get hurt and he made that fact known.

"I don't think so. If anything I bet some stupid bully was picking on you and gave you that bruise."

"Would you please just leave me alone? It doesn't concern you."

With that she got up and walked away from him. Naruto however wasn't going to let this go and decided to silently follow her in hopes of finding out what had caused her troubles.

A short while later...

After following her for awhile he saw her sitting outside of a bakery shop next to a blond girl which he recognized.

'That's Ino. I wonder how those two know each other.'

Naruto knew about Ino from Shikamaru and Choji when they talked about her a few times. He had also met her once or twice and she was rather bossy to other people.

Deciding to figure out what they were talking about he quietly made his way to them and made sure not to be seen. Standing a few feet away he listened on their conversation.

"Sakura why didn't you tell me that jerk Ami was messing with you again? I would have helped you out."

"I couldn't Ino. She and her friends threatened me that if I told anyone they would go after you and use a knife on you."

"You can't be serious! They were probably just bluffing and trying to scare you."

The young pink haired girl shook her head and looks her in the eyes.

"I am serious. Ami even pulled it out of her bag and showed it to me while putting it against my throat."

She pointed to her neck for her friend to see.

The Yamanaka heiress looked and saw a tiny scratch mark on her friends neck and could look with shocked eyes that soon turned to anger and then she got up to walk away.

"Ino wait! Where are you going?"

"I'm going home to find one of my Dad's kunai's and to give that bitch a piece of my mind that is what!"

This caused Ino's friend to become worried and went after her hoping she could talk her friend out of doing something she may regret later on.

From what he heard and saw Naruto found out everything he needed to know and started to think of a plan on what to do with Ami and her band of idiots. He too was picked on by Ami and her friends during his time in the academy. Decision final he decided to go look for the bully.

End of Flashback...

"Naruto are you okay? You haven't said anything yet."

The student of Jiraiya was brought back to the present from the sound of the lavender eyed girl and he saw the look of concern on her face.

"I'm okay Hinata, I was just remembering something from my past and it involved something that happened with Sakura."

"What was it?"

Naruto began to tell her about when he first meet Sakura and found out that she was being bullied by some kids they went to the academy with from their younger days. Hinata listened as she remembered Ami as well since she bullied her and the others as well. When Naruto brought up that he was going to follow them she decided to ask the first thing that came to mind.

"Why did Ami bother Sakura again, and what did you do to them?"

"I found out that she went taken a locket that belong to her and it had a picture of her dad in it."

"Really, how did you find out and how did you get it back from them?"

Naruto began to tell her about the prank he pulled on them and on how he retrieved it from them.

Flashback...

The young blonde had been looking around for the one who made Sakura cry and she found the bully with two of her friends Kasumi and Fuki laughing and gloating about what they did to Sakura earlier.

"Man did you see the look on that fat head?" Ami snickered to her friends.

"Yeah I know heh heh. I saw someone cry so much over a stupid little trinket like that." Fuki said as she sat under a tree resting against it.

Kasumi decided to ask Ami a question.

"So what are we goanna do with that thing, sell it or break it?"

"I'm not sure but I think I'll hang onto it for awhile and make that pink haired bitch my little servant if she wants it back so badly."

Naruto had heard enough and decided to put his plan into action to teach these bimbo's a lesson for what they did. Reaching into a bag he brought with him he pulled out some homemade pepper bombs mixed with itching powder that he had used to prank the Anbu and school teachers that had harassed him a few times.

Without further delay he launched his attack on the unsuspecting bullies.

Ami and the others were unprepared as while they were laughing they didn't see or react in time to dodge the bombs that hit them right in their faces causing them to cough and cry out in pain making them stand up and rubbing their eyes in reflex to being hit in the face.

"ACK! WHAT IS THIS?"

"WHO THE HELL THREW THIS AT ME?"

"MY EYES WON'T STOP BURNING!"

This caused the lead bully to drop the locket and that was the young Uzumaki queue to jump in to get it and he decided to add an extra amount of pain to these jerks by throwing a punch into each of their faces followed up by a kick to their stomachs.

BAM! POW! WHACK! SMACK!

The girls doubled over in pain not seeing what had hit into them, causing them to roll over in pain. The young blond then picked up the locket and ran off to find Sakura to return it.

End of Flashback...

"I was searching around for Sakura and Ino but I couldn't find them anywhere so I decided to head back home and return it to her at the academy the next day."

Hinata was shocked at Naruto's actions from how he dealt with the bullies though she couldn't blame him and then asked, "Did anything happen when you went to give Sakura the locket?"

"Yeah and Sakura did something I never expected."

Flashback... (Last one I promise.)

It was during the lunch hour at the academy and Sakura and Ino were sitting together chatting and having lunch talking about the usual gossip that came around. One in particular was about Ami and her friends getting the beat down of the century.

"Man I wish I could have seen who it was that cleaned Ami's clock yesterday." The blonde Yamanaka said excitedly to her friend as she took a sip of her tea.

"Me too, though I'm wondering who it was that attacked them and why?" Sakura wondered aloud as she heard that Ami got a broken nose, along with her friends. She and Ino also heard that their eyes were hit by a mixture of pepper and itching powder.

"Who knows, it was probably someone they messed with and didn't expect them to get back at them. I even heard that something got stolen from them."

"Do you think it could be my locket?" Sakura asked with hope as she didn't know if she could face her mother again after losing something that was a reminder of her father.

"To be honest I hope not Sakura, but then again maybe whoever took it from Ami might recognize the picture and bring it back to you."

Before she could answer her friend the young Haruno heard someone call out to her.

"Hey Sakura!"

This caused both girls to turn to the sound of the voice and saw it was none other than the village prairie Naruto Uzumaki.

The young Uzumaki came running to them with a smile on his face, hoping to gain another friend to ease the loneliness in his life. Stopping before the girls before him to catch his breath before speaking with them, though Sakura was wondering how he knew her name.

"How did you know my name?"

The blonde academy student smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head while giving off a goofy smile replied, "To be honest I followed you around to the bakery shop and I heard what happened to you."

"You followed her around?" Ino said surprised that the blonde Uzumaki would do something like that.

"Well I wanted to know what was bothering her yesterday but she wouldn't tell me so I had to find out somehow and I learned she was bullied by Ami and those other jerks."

"Why didn't you just listen to me and leave me alone?" Sakura asked him.

"I don't like to see others bullied, especially cute girls."

Sakura blushed at being referred to as cute. Then she realized something and decided to ask him a question.

"Naruto was it you who attacked Ami and the others yesterday?"

"Yeah it was me and I managed to get this back for you since it meant a lot."

He went into his pocket and pulled out the locket showing it to the pink haired girl.

"You got my locket back?"

"Yup, I figure I save you and Ino the trouble of getting it back and I didn't want ether of you to get hurt after hearing they had a knife."

Handing her the locket Sakura looked at the boy before her speechless on this act of kindness. She looked him in the eyes and couldn't help but smile as tears started to form in her eyes.

Naruto being clueless of girls was worried he did something wrong got worried and started to panic a little.

"Sakura what's wrong? Was that the wrong locket? If is I'm sorry..."

He didn't get to say more as he was suddenly enveloped in a hug crying tears of joy. Then what she did next was unexpected.

She kissed him on the check and backed away slowly standing next to her shock friend while smiling at the shocked Uzumaki.

"Thank you so much Naruto, this means a lot to me."

It was then the lunch bell rang indicating that it was ending and time for the students to return to class.

"I'll see you in class Naruto, later."

The pink haired girl waved and ran off with her friend following behind her. The blonde Uzumaki stood at the spot he was at and then he had a goofy grin on his face with one thought on his mind.

'She kissed me.'

He then made his way back to class.

End of Flashback...

Hinata was shocked at the affection Sakura showed Naruto that day and wondered if that was what had started her crush's feelings toward the student of Tsunade.

"Did anything else happen that day Naruto-kun?"

"No nothing else happened after that, except for playing a prank after school."

The Hyuga heiress smiled since she wondered what kind of trouble Naruto caused that day then asked him the question she first started with.

"So is that why you went after Sakura for so long because you brought her back that locket?"

"Yeah since then she was nice to me and we used to talk sometimes, and when I asked her out she would say no nicely."

This surprised Hanabi's older sister as she did remember seeing Sakura act kind toward the blonde once or twice and then started seeing her act hostile toward him whenever he used to ask her for dates, and brought up another question.

"If she was kind to you before why did she act mean afterwards?"

That caught the student of Jiraiya by surprise and before he could think of what it was both he and the lavender eyed girl heard a loud shout.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT TO BREAK UP?"

This caused both teens to jump slightly and look in the direction of where it came from. Hinata at first thought it was Tsunade but then realized it was the older sister of Gaara.

"That was Temari. I wonder what could have upset her."

Naruto knew the answer and could only hope that his friend would be all right and that Gaara wouldn't kill him. He then had one final thought.

'I hope you two will be okay and can still be together.'

Back to Shikamaru and Temari...

The son of Yoshino and Shikaku Nara could only gulp loudly as he felt like he was lined up in front of the firing squad to be executed. Especially with the look Temari was giving him.

Gaara's sister was pissed as she couldn't believe what her intended love interest had just said not so long ago and was ready to beat him over the head with her fan, but settled for glaring at him.

"You have about thirty seconds to explain why we need to break up right now!"

The young Chunin knew of his soon to be ex-girlfriends threats and held his hand up in a gesture asking her to let him speak.

"I'll need a little more than thirty seconds to tell you why and it is a good reason why I shouldn't be with you anymore."

"Start talking now slacker." Temari demanded as she was trying hard to keep calm and not strike out at him.

Shikamaru took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes with sad eyes.

"Do you remember when my sensei had died a couple days ago and later on I got revenge for him against the bastard that took his life?"

"I do, but what does that have to do with this?"

"The day before I went to get back at him, it was at night I decided to check on Kurenai Yuhi, who was my sensei's girlfriend, to see if she was okay since she was in a lot of pain from losing him."

Temari's expression softened as she remembered the distraught Jonin who had lost her lover. She waited for the student of the late Sarutobi to continue on which he did.

"When I meet up with her she was drinking a little and seemed to be intoxicated a little bit. I decided to have a talk with her about what happened. She didn't want to talk but I insisted we did just so she could get whatever she was feeling off her chest."

"How long did you two talk for?"

"We talked for a little while and then she decided to offer me a drink."

"You didn't drink did you?" Temari really didn't see Shikamaru as the drinking type, though she heard he started smoking as a tribute to his sensei.

"I said no at first, but then she went bringing up about if I was old enough to kill then I was old enough to drink. It was such a drag."

"Everything is a drag to you Shikamaru." Kankuro and Gaara's sister said while rolling her eyes then looked back at him asking, "You only had one drink with her didn't you?"

"I had MORE than one drink with her Temari. Kami-Sama I don't know how many I had with her. For a while Kurenai and I talked about our time with Asuma, our mission, and my team mates."

"Is that all that happened between you two?" She hoped to herself.

Shikamaru knew that the next few things he was about to tell her would more than likely cause bodily harm to either him or Kurenai and could only hope Temari would not go on the warpath on them. Sighing he went on to tell her the same thing he told Naruto today.

"I wish that was it, but it wasn't because the next thing I said to Kurenai caused her to cry."

"What could you of said that was stupid enough to make her cry?"

"I didn't say anything to hurt her feelings; I went saying something that my sensei once called her before."

"What was it?"

"I went calling her a rare beautiful flower that deserves to be loved and nurtured."

This surprised her as Shikamaru had never spoken to her like that in all the times they knew each other. While she was a little upset that he never spoke to her like that she figured it was due to the alcohol he had with her and hoped nothing else happened between the two that day.

"That's all that happened to you two right?"

Unfortunately for the blonde kunoichi the young man before her said something that he wished didn't happen.

"I REALLY wish that was all that happened because she kept crying and I started to panic so I did the only thing I could think of to try and comfort her."

"What did you do?"

"I...I kissed her Temari."

Gaara's sister became wide eyed and her mouth hung open gapping like a gold-fish. At first she wanted to believe that was it but in the back of her mind there was something else he wanted to tell her, while silently hoping that was the end of it.

Before she could utter a word he looked straight at her with eyes filled with sorrow, sadness, and regret.

"This is the reason we should never see each other and why I don't deserve you anymore Temari because after I had kissed her...We...we made love."

That did it. The older sister of Gaara felt like she had been stabbed in the heart with a rusted kunai after hearing those words causing her to fall to her knees with her head down, and shaking uncontrollably.

Shikamaru became worried and made his way over to her kneeling down to face her.

"Temari?" Shikamaru asked as he slowly reached one hand out to her.

Before he knew it the sister of Gaara reacted in a way the young Nara never thought was possible.

WHAP!

He staggered back and fell on his rear end while holding the right side of his face and looked in shock. She had just slapped him!

Temari slowly stood up and made her way over to him. If one were to look into her eyes one would think twice about angering the kunoichi.

Stopping just in front of him she reached down and ranked him up by the front of his vest until they were face to face, her eyes burning holes through him. Then she started speaking in a strained voice that was filled with hurt and anger, "Give me one good reason not to beat the shit out of you and Yuhi-san Shikamaru. One good reason and it better not be bull crap!"

Choji and Ino's friend knew she had every right to beat him within an inch of his life for what he did, but he could not see or allow Kurenai to be harmed in any way. So he spoke from the heart to his now former love interest.

"I can't give you any reason that is good enough to be spared from you, but all I ask is that you leave Kurenai alone."

"Why should I leave her alone after what you just told me?"

"I'm telling you to leave her alone because if you were to fight with her or attempted to harm her in any way shape or form, it would incite a war between our villages, and neither of us wants that."

The sister of Gaara and Kankuro couldn't deny those words as what he said was true. She wanted to so badly find the red eye Jonin and beat her senseless but knew it wouldn't help ether of their villages. There was also the fact that both she and Shikamaru were intoxicated.

With those thoughts she dropped him and stepped back to catch her breath before chosen her next words.

"Do my feelings mean anything less to you?"

"No Temari, your feelings aren't any less. I care for you more than anything else, which is why I told you about what I did and how I feel I don't deserve to be with you anymore or anyone else for that matter."

The Suna kunoichi could see in his eyes that he meant every word he meant and that was when something came to mind and decided to ask him about a certain red eye Jonin.

"What did Kurenai do to you when she came around? I'm pretty sure she must have been upset after finding out what you two did since you were both intoxicated."

"To be honest I was surprised by what she did and I didn't expect it."

Shikamaru then began to tell her about what happened between the two of them when they had both woken up from their night of love making. How he had apologized for what he did to her and meant to comfort her and not take advantage of her. What surprised Temari the most was his honesty and how she forgave him. He decided to leave out the part of where she wouldn't mind sharing him with Temari as he wasn't sure if the red eye Jonin was series or joking, and he didn't want to know how Gaara's sister would react to such a thing.

"So what are going to do about her?" She asked him since she figured after what happen he might start seeing somebody else.

"I don't know to be honest Temari, but I don't want to start a relationship with her because in all honesty I still feel horrible for what I did even though the both of us were drunk." He paused to gather his thoughts on what to say next, before continuing.

"Then there is you and me to think about. I honestly believe that you deserve better and I don't deserve to have you after what I did to hurt even if it was unintentionally."

Temari felt horrible for slapping him, but even worse after what he was suggesting between the two of them. Though she wanted nothing more than to find Kurenai and scream at her for what happen between them it would only lead to a fight which would no doubt cause a bad reaction between their homes. So with those thoughts in mind she decided to say her peace.

"If...if that is what you want to happen, then...I guess it's better this way."

Shikamaru could tell she was doing her best not to cry in front of him. He so wanted to go over to her and hold her in his arms but he was afraid he wouldn't let go and it tore him up inside.

"I'm going to leave tomorrow. I won't tell my brothers of this since I know how Gaara can be when he gets over protective." She paused and decided to ask him another question. "Who else knows about this besides us and Yuhi-san?"

"The only who knows this besides us is Naruto."

"When did he find out?" She asked shocked.

"I told him when he saw me today and got worried about what was wrong with me. He was also the one who gave me advice about this since he didn't want ether of us to feel horrible or anything bad happen to us." He responded to her.

She paused and thought about the blonde Jinchuriki who like her brother was treated horrible like he was and couldn't help but feel thankful for him since he cared a great deal about those close to him. She then looked at her former lover and asked, "Are you going to tell anybody else of this?"

"No I won't. As far as I'm concerned no one else needs to know and I feel it's better this way. I also believe Naruto won't breathe a word of this to anyone else so long as he lives." He gave her a sad smile. "I guess this is good bye for us?"

"It is you slacker. But don't think I'm going to forgive you just yet as I feel like kicking your ass around." She chocked back a sob and turned away from him before walking off leaving so he would see the tears going down her face.

When she was gone, the son of Yoshino and Shikaku Nara fell to his knees and began to weep for the woman who was most important to him and wished that he could undo on what just happened. In a choked voice he uttered these words.

"Temari...I'm so sorry...I should of told you I love you."

To Be Continued...

Authors Note

Well here is the third chapter to my story and I hope you all like this. I'm sorry I haven't posted anything as of late because my mom got out of surgery in November and I've been helping taken care of her. She is doing better now just so you know.

Now I did want to make this the final chapter but my friend King Kakashi pointed out it wouldn't be a good idea and gave me some advice which I thank him for, along with helping me out with this chapter.

As for my crossover stories with Devil May Cry I'll try to get to those as soon as I can. But right now I'm working on the next chapter of Rune Soldier Fury.

On the next chapter we will see Kurenai have an interesting conversation with Temari and the results between Naruto and Hinata. And trust me you'll like what I have planned for Temari and Kurenai. +Insert Jiraiya grin+

Happy New Year everyone!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It is the property of Kishimoto but I wish I did own Naruto because the Uchiha Clan wouldn't have so many stupid power ups and a lot of cool characters wouldn't have died off.

I'm just doing this for fun, so let's get this show on the road.

'Thoughts'

Chapter 4

Girl Talk Part One

It was a quiet afternoon in the streets of Konoha as people were milling about in their own business. Everyone seemed to go about their business without trouble except for one person.

Sitting at the Ichiraku Ramen restaurant was the Leaf's number one unpredictable shinobi Naruto Uzumaki. Currently he was only on his third bowl of ramen and had yet to finish it. Truthfully he really wasn't too hungry even for his favorite food, as he had a lot on his mind and it revolved around one of his friends and allies, which was Shikamaru Nara.

It had been two weeks since he learned that both Shikamaru and Temari had broken up when the Suna kunoichi learned of what had transpired between the Nara heir and Kurenai Yuhi. This of course shocked Naruto and he couldn't help but feel bad for his friend and felt like it was his fault for the advice he gave to him. The young Nara had assured him that none of it was his fault for what happen and that things just didn't turn out the way ether of them expected it to.

When Shikamaru asked how things went between him and Hinata, the blonde shinobi had told him the truth of what happened and Shikamaru was happy for the both of them. He even wished both him and Hinata the best of luck and hoped he didn't lose her like he did Temari.

_'Man why did this have to happen to those two?'_ The young Uzumaki thought to himself, as he really wanted to help both of them. The problem was he was only starting to understand about love since Hinata's confession to him and that they had started going out.

This had been a shock to some of their friends and many had wondered what had caused them to become a couple, especially Sakura and Ino. Both of them were a bit nosy and wanted to learn how it happened, but both the Hyuga Heiress and the Disciple of Jiraiya wouldn't budge and told them since they didn't feel ready to tell them just yet and that they should respect their privacy.

"Naruto-kun, are you all right?"

Naruto was shaken out of his thoughts at the sound of his girl friend's voice and looked to see her sitting next to him with a look of concern on her face.

"How long were you there for Hinata-chan?"

"I got here just now and I noticed that you were hardly touching your ramen. It looks like you have a lot on your mind."

The blonde Uzumaki sighed and could only nod his head.

"I do have a lot on my mind Hinata-chan and I'm pretty sure you know what or rather who is on my mind right now."

The Hyuga heiress nodded, as she already knew who Naruto was talking about.

"You're worried about Shikamaru and Temari aren't you?

He could only nod his head to her and took a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm also wondering if Kurenai-sensei is all right. Have you spoken to her at all?"

"I haven't spoken with her yet. She was away on a mission a few days ago and was said to return earlier today."

Naruto was worried as Temari would be arriving today as well to discuss politics with Tsunade about allying with the other shinobi villages that were allies to Konoha. With that thought in mind he turned to his girlfriend and decided to share his concern.

"I think we better let Kurenai-sensei know what's going on Hinata-chan. If Shikamaru hasn't told her about what happened between him and Temari, then things will wind up going downhill for everyone."

The Hyuga Heiress nodded at her boyfriends words. Though she was certain that her sensei could defend herself, she didn't want Konoha's and Suna's relations to turn bad for what happened.

After paying for his meal, Naruto and Hinata went off in search of the Genjutsu Mistress, hoping to speak with her.

At a dango stand...

The woman in question was enjoying a cup of tea and was spending time with her friends Anko, Hana, and Yugao.

"You seem to be doing a lot better than before Kurenai-chan." Anko commented as she was enjoying her dango since it was her break.

"I'm doing very much better now that those bastards who took Asuma are gone." The red eyed beauty spoke to her friend.

Yugao looked at her friend and smiled at her. In all honesty she wishes she had her friends luck as she still felt anger towards Suna for their betrayal three years ago, when she lost her lover Hayate. But her friends made sure to be there for her and made sure she didn't waste her life away. Though the female Anbu still wanted to confront her lover's murderer and find out if he or she was worth killing. The Anbu kunoichi was brought out of her musings when she heard Hana ask.

"By the way have you guys heard about what's been going on?"

Her friends shook their heads wondering what she was talking about.

"Well from what I heard from my brother Kiba, is that Naruto and Hinata are going out with each other now."

This surprised Anko and Yugao, but the one who was most surprised was Kurenai. She had known about her students crush on the young Uzumaki and to now learn that they were going out was a real eye opener for her. She decided to ask Hana more on the topic.

"When did this happen and how did Kiba find out?"

"It was about a week ago when he was on an errand for our mother that he saw the two walking to Ichiraku and he was surprised to see them holding each other's hands. I guess you could say he got curious and decided to follow them."

"I hope your brother didn't get in trouble for it since he had an errand to run." Yugao replied to her friend as she knew that Tsume had quite a temper.

"It wasn't anything too important, so Kiba's fine. Anyway once he got to where they went he decided to keep hidden and watch what was going on. He noticed that they were talking and laughing about a few things that happened to them when on missions."

"Is that it?" Anko asked her friend.

Hana shook her head before replying.

"No what surprised me in the end is what they did after Naruto paid for their meals. Kiba said when they got out of the booth they hugged each other and then...they kissed each other. With tongues I might add."

"They did what?!"

Everyone turned to see Kurenai open mouthed and wide eyed at what she had just heard. Anko for her part couldn't help but grin at the look on her friends face and commented in amusement.

"I wish I had a camera right now, that look you have is priceless." Anko then chuckled to herself.

The red eyed beauty shook her head and then declared.

"This isn't something to laugh about! I was expecting her to take it slow when she finally let Naruto know how she felt about him!"

The female Inuzuka held her hands up to her friend.

"Kurenai calm down, it's not like they jumped the gun already on the first night."

The Genjutsu Mistress winched when her friend spoke the words and thought to herself with a little remorse, as a memory of that night she shared with Shikamaru popped into her head.

'_Jumped the gun.'_

In truth, she had heard about Shikamaru and Temari's break up and felt guilty about the two ending their relationship, but wondered if the young Nara took her words seriously about wanting to share him with Temari.

_'He probably thought I was joking and wasn't serious.'_ Kurenai thought sadly and decided she might have a word with him.

"Kurenai are you all right?"

She was shaken out of her thoughts, when she heard Yugao speaking to her and saw she was looking concern.

"Yes I'm fine, why do ask?"

"Well for a moment you looked sad about something and were spacing out."

Kurenai sighed as she didn't want to let her friends know about what had happened between her and her deceased lover's student several weeks ago.

"Things are just complicated right now Yugao, but I will tell you and the others about it soon, just not now."

The female Anbu looked at her for a moment, before nodding to her and decided to get back to the topic they were discussing.

"So Hana did anything else happen between those two?"

The Inuzuka kunoichi frowned for a moment before answering her friend's question.

"Well just so you know some of the people of this village saw the two dating and Kiba heard some of these idiots whispering crap about Naruto and Hinata. Hell my brother was about ready to beat the crap out of those people and he could tell Naruto wanted to as well."

Anko, Kurenai, and Yugao winced, as they could only guess at the things that were said about the two. There were still some, but not as many people who still hated Naruto because of his status as a Jinchuuriki.

Hana then continued from where she left off.

"Luckily that didn't happen, as Hinata managed to calm Naruto down and Akamaru was with Kiba. But my brother could tell that the Uzumaki boy would prank those people later on for what they had said."

Hana's friends had different reactions when they heard that. Anko had an evil grin, as she could only imagine the kind of pranks the Uzumaki would pull on those people. Yugao could only shake her head in pity for those who had bad mouthed Naruto and Hinata. As for Kurenai, she would make sure to ask Hinata later about who it was that insulted her and Naruto.

Suddenly, a new voice rang out and it was the two people in question they were talking about.

"Hey Kurenai-sensei, are you busy right now? Hinata-chan and I need to talk to you."

The four women turned to see Naruto and next to him was Hinata, both holding each other's hands. Anko decided to tease the two for a little bit.

"Well if it isn't the little love birds, we were just talking about you two." She then looked at Kurenai's student and grinned.

"So did you kiss him yet? How did he taste?" Her grin got bigger when she wickedly asked.

"How BIG is he?"

Hinata could only blush and look away shyly from the Tokubetsu-Jonin. Naruto also sported a blush of his own, and gave an annoyed look before responding.

"Oi, quit acting like Ero-Sennin crazy snake lady, we didn't do THAT stuff!"

"Hey! Don't compare me to that old fart gaki!"

Before an argument could be broken out, Hinata's sensei decided to interrupt the two before they got into it.

"What is it that you and Hinata wish to speak to me about?"

"It is rather private Kurenai-sensei, and we need to speak with you as it is urgent."

She regarded her student for a minute and then decided whatever it was that needed to be told by them must be very important. So with a nod she got up and walked to her student.

Seeing Kurenai walking toward his girlfriend, Naruto decided to drop whatever argument he and Anko were about to have and decided they can go at each other later.

A while later…

"All right this is a good spot for us to speak. So what is it that you and Hinata wanted to talk to me about Naruto?"

The three shinobi were at Training Ground Seven. They had decided to come here to avoid anyone listening in on their conversation.

"It's about you, Shikamaru, and Temari."

Kurenai didn't show it but on the inside she was nervous and hoping that these two didn't know what had happen between her and Shikamaru.

"What does this have to do with me and those two?"

"Did you know that the two of them broke up? Hinata asked her sensei and mother figure.

"I heard about that but I honestly can't understand why those two would." Kurenai was starting to believe that the young Nara must have told one of the two about what happen between them and she was proven true when Naruto spoke up."

"Hinata and I already know the truth Kurenai-sensei. That's the reason why we want to talk to you and before you ask, he told me about what happen."

The Genjutsu Mistress didn't say anything for a minute after Naruto spoke. Finally she decided to be honest and hoped that they wouldn't look down at her or even hate her for what happen.

"So when did he tell you two about what happen between us when we were drinking?"

"He only told me Kurenai-sensei. Hinata didn't know until I told her, and she swore never to tell anyone else since she cares about you a lot."

Kurenai looked at her student and saw she nodded her head to confirm what her boyfriend said was true. She decided to ask them another question concerning her.

"Naruto, Hinata I want you two to be honest with me. Do you find me at fault or do you find Shikamaru at fault for what happen between us weeks ago?"

This surprised the two people in front of her and it was Naruto who decided to speak first.

"Kurenai-sensei what kind of a question is that?"

"Please Naruto, I want you and Hinata to be honest with me and answer the question."

The blonde Uzumaki was quiet for a moment before giving his answer.

"No Kurenai-sensei, I don't find you or Shikamaru at fault for what happen to the both of you. You guys were drunk, and you weren't really thinking that straight. If anything you guys were both hurting over the loss of Asuma-sensei."

"Naruto-kun is right sensei. You were dealing with the pain in losing Asuma in your own way and Shikamaru only wanted to comfort you. So none of you are to blame for what happen. If anything I think you should explain to Temari-san about what happen and if you want we can go with you for support."

The red-eyed beauty looked at the two before walking up to them and embracing the both of them into a hug, which surprised the two shinobi. Naruto and Hinata gently returned the hug to the Genjutsu-Mistress. They stood that way for a moment before ending it, and the two young shinobi were shocked to see tears in Kurenai's eyes.

"Thank you Naruto, Hinata for understanding me."

She wiped her eyes, before addressing the two before her.

"I'm glad you didn't judge right away and actually understood what me and Shikamaru went through." She looked to her student. "Hinata make sure to cherish every moment you have with Naruto." She then looked to her student's boyfriend. "Naruto you better be good to her, she is like a daughter to me."

The two young shinobi stood there for a moment before nodding to her as they understood why she was acting this way. She wanted them to always be there for one another and to never take anything for granted.

It was then the Hyuga Heiress decided to ask her something.

"Would you like for me and Naruto-kun to be there with when you go to talk with Temari-san sensei? Like he said we can be there with you for support if you need it."

"No Hinata, if anything this is something I will need to handle. Besides I don't think Shikamaru must have told Temari an important detail. Then again he probably didn't think I was serious and must have been joking."

"What important detail was that?" Naruto asked.

"It is personal Naruto-kun, but I might tell you if I'm ready."

He nodded and that was when someone Shunshin right next to the group. Naruto was surprised to see who it was.

"Yamato-sensei what are you doing here?"

"Tsunade-Sama has ordered for you and Hinata to report to the Hokage Tower immediately. There is a high class mission that we are needed for. I'll explain on the way."

The two nodded, but not before taking one last look at Kurenai. The Genjutsu Mistress realized that they were concerned for her still and decided to ease their worries.

"Go on you two, I'll be all right. Just make sure to come back safely."

Naruto and Hinata smiled at her before taking off with Yamato to see Tsunade. When they were out of sight, Kurenai sighed before going off to search for the sister of Gaara while thinking to herself.

'_Well I might as well start asking around. Hopefully she will be in a better mood and will be willing to talk instead of swinging her fan around like a crazed barbarian.' _

An hour later…

At a local tea shop, there was someone sitting at a table having a cup of tea, with a few snacks to go with it. This individual was a female from Sunagakure and was the sister of the Kazakage, Gaara No Sabaku. This was Temari No Sabaku.

To anyone who was passing by it looked like nothing was wrong with her and only appeared to look a little aggravated. But inside she was feeling miserable and depressed after what happen two weeks ago. She wanted to keep telling herself that she was better off without Shikamaru and that both of them should just move on. But deep inside she couldn't stop thinking about him and wanted to try and at least work things over.

'_Yeah right what does he need me for? If anything he's got HER now and I doubt he's willing to ditch her to go back to me.' _She thought bitterly as she really wanted to find the Jonin and smash her head in with fan. But the more reasonable side of her knew better as it would only cause international problems for both of their homes. There was also the fact that she and the lazy sloth had been drunk, but even still she believed both of them should have had more control than that.

She shook her head. She just didn't know what to do, and she honestly couldn't have known what to do ether had it been Shikamaru that had died instead of his sensei. Truth was she might have drinking herself stupid or worse. She sighed and took a drink of her tea hoping that by tomorrow she could return home and not come back for another couple days. She might even ask her brother to send someone else in her place in case he needed someone to come here. She was about to call for the waiter to pay for her drink when someone spoke to her from behind.

"Hello Temari-san."

The blonde kunoichi stiffened when she heard a female voice and it wasn't just anyone's. She slowly turned around and her eyes widen slightly as to who was in front of her.

Kurenai Yuhi gave a polite smile and hoped that she was willing to talk with her before doing anything rash. She didn't have to wait long as Temari spoke before she could.

"What do YOU want?!"

Kurenai flinched at the tone that Gaara's sister was using toward her. She knew that she had only one chance to work things out with her and to fix the damage that had happen between her and Shikamaru. Taking a deep breath, she spoke in a calm voice to show she wasn't here to start trouble.

"I was hoping that you and I could talk with one another. In private if you do not mind?"

To Be Continued…

Authors Note

This is it for chapter four to this story. First I want to say sorry to everyone who loves this story and any new reader that has just read this. Real life hasn't been very kind to me but then again real life is not kind to everyone. Two other cats that were with my family and me for years have passed away like Buda who I mentioned in my authors note in the first chapter.

Rascal had passed away around July 11 of the summer. I found her under my mother's bed not moving. It was painful for me and everyone I knew that cared. Then last month a few days after Thanksgiving Sindel had passed away because of diabetes and complications with breathing.

There are many other things I want to mention but I'll save it for another time. I just hope next year things will become a lot better for me. Other than that I had a bad case of writers block, and was trying to write more to my first story.

I want to thank KingKakashi for helping me out and giving me suggestions. Now I know I mentioned this chapter would have an interesting scene with Kurenai and Temari but like I said writers block. The next chapter will have Temari and Kurenai alone with one another and I promise you this time it will be something worth waiting for.

Now I want to rant about the Naruto manga and I can honestly say I am without a doubt pissed off at what's been going on. I just want to say for the record if Kishimoto kills off Tsunade, Gaara, Mei, Onoki, and A I will REALLY get medieval on his ass and curse him to no end, especially with what happen in chapter 614 of the manga.

If Neji dies permanently I will be pissed big time. It was bad enough he killed off Jiraiya and many others in the series, and now he wants to pull this shit? Kishimoto is goanna lose a lot of fans if he doesn't straighten up soon. I have not forgotten about Anko ether, and I'm starting to wonder when we will see her again? If she dies, along with the others I mentioned I will kick Kishimoto's ass big time and curse him to his grave.

The only good thing is that Obito and Madara do not have complete control of the Ten Tailed Beast. Before I forget Ino and Shikamaru's fathers better not be dead ether.

Now I wish to share my opinion on pairings of Naruto. If anyone is interested in reading this part, if not then that is fine but please keep in my mind this is just my opinion about them. I will start with the pairings I dislike.

Naruto/Hanabi

I don't have anything against Hanabi but in all honesty she would be more like a little sister to Naruto than a lover. Other than that she was never developed much in the series which I blame on Kishimoto. Honestly that guy makes a lot of characters and never develops them. If he stopped focusing on Sasgay Uchiha and focused more on other characters than the series would be more enjoyable. All in all I just don't see Hanabi as a girlfriend for Naruto. No offense to anyone who likes this pairing.

Naruto/Samui

Now before anyone decides to blow things out of proportion just hear me out please. The reason I do not like this pairing is because I find Samui boring. Don't get me wrong she is hot but it's her personality that I find boring and a little bit of a turn off. To me she is just some eye candy that Kishimoto created to replace Kurenai after she got pregnant with Asuma's child which is a dumb move in my view. All Samui has got going for her is her looks and nothing else. I haven't seen her doing any kick ass moves and interacting much. Plus she wasn't around long after the Gold and Silver Brothers captured her and her brother. Now a lot of people might say Mei Terumi is the same but I beg to differ. She has character and she has shown to kick some ass big time. Not to mention she is hot and sexy like Anko and Tsunade.

All in all Kishimoto probably thought 'Oh since Kurenai is pregnant; I'll just create some woman with big tits to replace her'. Sorry Kishimoto but you should have developed more on the characters you already before bringing in any new characters.

And now on to the final pairing I dislike.

Naruto/Sakura

The first thing I want to make clear is I don't hate Sakura; I just don't like her at all. At the start of the series I will admit Sakura was a complete bitch and was nothing but a weak and shallow fan-girl. She honestly only wanted to become a shinobi just to impress Sasuke and had even broken her friendship with Ino, which was dumb to begin with. And I didn't like her treatment toward Naruto, especially after all the times he was nice to her.

She is supposed to be the Top Kunoichi of her class yet she fell to the weakest genjutsu that Kakashi used on her during the bell test. And she honestly believed it was Sasuke that saved her from Gaara when it was actually Naruto who did.

I could go on about her faults but I would be only sounding biased then. Later on in the series she does become stronger and more effective. To be honest I think Naruto and Sakura's love would be that of a brother and sister since Sakura only loves Sasuke, even though the guy is a total asshole.

But I was close to hating Sakura after her false confession to Naruto about loving him. That was low, shallow and stupid because she knew Hinata loved Naruto, especially when Hinata went to defend Naruto against Pain and Naruto heard Hinata confess her love to him which was genuine and truthful.

I will make some exceptions to the pairing with a few stories' I've read, so long as the story plot is good and well developed.

Well that is it for now. On the next chapter we will have Kurenai and Temari discussing about the man in their life. Until then, take care everyone.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Naruto. It belongs to Kishimoto so stop bothering me about this already. This is the fifth chapter to the story, so for an early warning this chapter contains mature content.

'Thoughts'

Chapter 5

Girl Talk Part 2

Kurenai and Temari were walking silently to the apartment that the Genjutsu Mistress lived in to have their talk and both of them had many thoughts running through their minds.

For Temari she was wondering what the Konoha Jounin wanted to talk to her about and silently hoped it wasn't about Shikamaru. For Kurenai she was hoping Temari would be willing to listen to her considering how badly she had betrayed and hurt the Suna kunoichi.

They soon reached the apartment complex and the red eyed kunoichi gestured for her reluctant guest to enter. The blonde haired kunoichi only nodded and went inside with the other woman following closely behind her.

They soon came to the front room where there was a couch and a small table in the middle of the room. Standing a few feet away was a bookshelf that had a couple of books. Making their way toward the couch Kurenai gestured for Temari to have a seat, which she did.

"Can I offer you some water or tea Temari-san?"

"I guess, tea will be fine."

The red eyed beauty heard the cold and curt tone of Temari's response, but shrugged it off, as she understood the reason behind it and went to the kitchen to prepare the tea. She wanted desperately to talk with her and hoped that the young girl would give her the chance.

For her part, Temari just sat quietly with her legs crossed. The blonde kunoichi remembered she had left her battle fan at the apartment she was staying at for when she came to Konoha and wondered if she should have brought it with her. Temari shook her head at such an idea since she just wanted to get this talk with the Genjutsu Mistress over with, as she anxiously thought.

_'I hope this doesn't take too long.' _

Kurenai came back with two cups of tea and sat down opposite of Temari, while handing her a cup. Taking the cup, Temari sipped a little of it, before setting it down on the table in front of them. Kurenai also took a small sip of her before doing the same.

"So what is it you want? This better be a good reason because I don't want my time wasted." Temari snapped with growing irritation.

Hinata's sensei sighed deeply, as she knew this was not going to be easy, but she was determined to make things right for both her and Shikamaru. Kurenai wasn't sure, but she had a feeling that he hadn't told Temari about how she wanted to share him with the Suna kunoichi. Pausing to gather her next thoughts Kurenai began to speak to the young woman in a gentle and regretful tone of voice.

"First before you say anything, I want to start off by saying how deeply sorry I am for what happened and my part in causing you that pain."

"This is what you brought me here for a lousy apology! After what you and Shikamaru did to me, you now think saying sorry is going to make things better?" Temari spat in righteous pain and anger she held towards the Konoha kunoichi.

"No, I never thought it would make things better for you, but I still wanted you to know that I am ashamed for what I did to you and I do regret hurting you, whether you believe that or not."

The blonde haired kunoichi wanted nothing more than to tell Kurenai off, but the regretful look on the Genjutsu Mistress face and the sad repentant tone of her voice told Temari that indeed the woman was being sincere and truthful with her words. So with a frustrated sigh she nodded and taking a breath to help her calm down, she waited for Kurenai to speak once more.

"As I was saying I'm sorry about what happened, but you should know that both Shikamaru and I were not thinking right, as we were both intoxicated and grieving over the loss of his sensei Asuma. Neither one of us were thinking rationally and we were just too caught up in our own pain and things just spiraled out of control between us. I know that's not a valid or justified reason for the two of us hurting you as we did, but it is the truth."

Temari's expression softened a little bit, as she knew that Shikamaru cared deeply for his sensei and she also knew that Asuma had been the man Kurenai loved as well. The Suna kunoichi hated to admit, but she could understand their pain, as she would probably mourn just as deeply if her own sensei Baki had died. Temari then nodded her head for Kurenai to continue.

"I don't know if you've seen Shikamaru since your breakup, but I've noticed since then he has been miserable and I'm willing to bet he misses you greatly."

"Why would he be miserable without me? I mean he has you now so I don't see why he would even care? He certainly didn't when he slept with you two weeks ago." Temari remarked bitterly.

"Temari, I know he hurt you and I've explained the circumstances behind it, but let me ask you a question and I want you to be as honest with me and to yourself when you answer."

Temari paused a moment, before she nodded her head in agreement.

"Do you honestly believe he would just cast you aside so easily for another woman? He still loves you and I think you know this because when he admitted his betrayal and broke up with you because he felt he was no longer worthy of you, did you see any lies in his eyes or sense any in his words not believe how regretful he is for what he had done?"

The Suna kunoichi flinched, as she thought back to that day. In all honesty she didn't want to believe him, but deep down she knew that he was honest and hurt by what he had done not only her but to Kurenai as well. She knew for a fact that most men would try to weakly justify or make up some excuse about their actions and blame anyone or anything but themselves. However, Shikamaru was not like any of those types of men and she knew he cared deeply for his friends and family. Heaving a sorrowful sigh she looked up at Kurenai and answered.

"No, I don't believe he would cast me aside so easily for another woman. I know Shika-kun is an honorable man, which is why it hurt me so much when he did something so…dishonorable to me."

Kurenai held her head down a bit in shame, thinking about her own role in hurting the girl sitting before her, when she heard Temari ask.

"By chance has he talked about me at all to anyone?"

Kurenai's expression softened and she replied morosely.

"Honestly I'm not sure if he has spoken to anyone. From what I've heard from Ino he has been avoiding everyone and hasn't looked well at all."

"Haven't you tried to talk to him?"

"I have tried to Temari believe me I have. But when I do he tells me not to worry about him as he considers it too troublesome for me and that I shouldn't be concerned about someone like him." Kurenai told her in a sad tone.

Temari leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes and could only shake her head in pained frustration, while thinking.

'_That lazy dummy, can't he see he's only hurting himself acting like this and not asking his friends for help?'_

"From what I can see you feel the same way and are miserable as he is, because I've heard you've been avoiding Hinata and all your other friends here in the Leaf village." Kurenai remarked with genuine concern for the young girl.

Temari wanted to deny it but she couldn't as it was true. During her stay here at Konoha she had been avoiding the other kunoichi's she was friends with, as many of them wanted to know if she was all right, but had basically lied to them saying she was just under stress from her missions when in fact she was miserable.

Taking a deep breath the blonde kunoichi looked at the Genjutsu Mistress with pained visage in her eyes and replied.

"I wish you could say you were wrong, but then I would be lying to myself. My thoughts and feelings are so mixed up about Shikamaru right now. One moment I miss that lazy slacker and the next moment I want to beat the snot out of him. Then I think of our break-up and I just wish he could have said he at least loved me or sometimes I just wish we didn't break up and tried to work things out."

Temari held her head down and a few tears fell from her face and inwardly cursed at herself, as she didn't wish for Kurenai to see her crying.

Kurenai moved toward her and wrapped her into a gentle hug, while rubbing her back to calm her down. This had been hard on both her and Shikamaru and Kurenai felt a great need to get them together once more. Hopefully it could happen and she hoped that she could be a part of their lives.

With that thought in mind she decided to ask the sister of Gaara the one question that ran through her head, while bringing the young woman to her apartment.

"Temari there is something I wish to ask you."

"What is it?"

Gently whipping the tears from her face, the red eyed beauty spoke to her in a gentle voice.

"I know this is a hard thing to ask you but I would like for you to please tell me what Shikamaru said to you when you broke up. I want to know the whole story from you on what he told you."

The Suna kunoichi looked at her for a moment before she sighed and decided to tell her just to get it over with, but wanted to make it clear she didn't feel like repeating it.

"All right I'll tell you, but I'm only going to repeat it once as I don't feel like telling it again ever."

And so Temari began telling Kurenai about her talk with Shikamaru. From him wanting to break up with her because he no longer deserved her, to Temari slapping him, telling her about what happen on the night he went to her apartment, and then their final goodbyes to one another.

The Genjutsu Mistress heard every word from Temari and realized then and there that Shikamaru didn't tell her about what she told the young Nara weeks ago the day after they awoke together, as she thought to herself.

_'I guess he did think I was joking about sharing him with Temari. Well it looks like I'll have to let her know and if it comes down to it; I'll even show her I'm series.'_

"So now that you heard everything, are we done now?" The Suna Kunoichi asked, and took a deep breath to calm down as just thinking about what happened was too much for her right now.

Nothing was said between the two women for a short moment, as Temari waited for Kurenai's answer. After a minute, Kurenai spoke up and said.

"There is something that you need to know Temari and it is what Shikamaru told you between us which he left out."

"Are you saying that he was lying to me about everything?!" Temari angrily questioned.

"No Temari, everything he spoke to you was true, but he left out one part and probably believed that I was joking with him, when in fact I was being serious about it."

"What exactly did he leave out?" She asked in curiosity, as whatever Kurenai told Shikamaru must have been completely honest but would be hardly believable to him from the woman before her.

"What I told him is that… I wouldn't mind sharing him with you."

There was an awful pall of silence that moment, as Temari's face was completely blank at what she was just been told by the Genjutsu Mistress. It was so quiet in the apartment that one could hear a pin drop. After what seemed like hours, when it was actually a minute Temari stared at Kurenai before saying.

"You're joking right?"

"No, I'm not and I hope you are not hurt by what I say next, but the only regret I have about sleeping with Shikamaru is how much it betrayed and hurt you. However, as for the actual act of sleeping with him, I don't regret that at all. Because everything you've fallen in love with about Shikamaru, I've also fallen in love with as well." Kurenai answered in unwavering honesty.

The Suna kunoichi didn't know what to say or how to respond to the woman before her. In all honesty, she was awe struck and shocked by what she had just heard, as well as very confused about how to respond and struggled desperately to think of something to say.

Kurenai reached out to gently shake the young woman and spoke in a concerned voice.

"Temari, are you all right?"

Temari shook her head to clear up her mind to focus. Taking a deep breath she spoke out in a strained voice.

"I'm sorry, it's just I don't know what to say or think right now."

The red eyed beauty could see that this was a lot for her to take in and decided to put her mind at ease.

"It's all right Temari; you don't need to answer now."

Temari thought for a moment before saying.

"I don't think it's possible to answer that right now…not without talking about it first."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm willing to, but I think I need a drink and by drink I mean something stronger than tea."

Kurenai nodded her head in understanding and rose from the couch to go into the kitchen. A minute later, she returned with a bottle of sake and two cups and sat back down next to Temari.

Setting the cups down on the table she poured into one cup before handing it to Temari then poured herself one. Setting the bottle down she began to drink with the Suna kunoichi doing the same and then began to discuss their relationship with Shikamaru.

Two hours later…

Temari and Kurenai were giggling and laughing enjoying each other's company. For the past two hours the two kunoichi had been drinking and were drunk. Kurenai had brought in another bottle as they had discussed about Shikamaru and some of the missions he performed.

"So Shika-kun actually fell asleep during that mission and the kids he and his team baby sited had drawn on his face?! HA! HA!"

"I know right?! When Asuma-kun told me that, and what happen afterwards I couldn't help but feel sorry for him and Choji, though I think Ino got the worst of it. I don't think I ever saw her cry so much when her whole face was covered in mud and her hair was dyed orange. HA! HA! HA!"

After both women finished laughing Temari decided to ask Kurenai something she would never expect.

"So Kurenai, when you and Shika-kun jumped the gun, how big is he?"

The Genjutsu Mistress was a little surprised by the question before she gave a sly smile.

"Do you want to really know Temari-chan?"

The blonde kunoichi rolled her eyes.

"Come on he can't be THAT big?"

"Oh but he is."

The red eye beauty then took her hands and showed Temari the length of Shikamaru's manhood, causing Temari to go wide eyed.

'_Holy shit! The slacker is that BIG!'_

Kurenai could see the look in her eyes and then decided to tease her.

"Not only is he big, but he's VERY tasty. Do you want me to capture him and then you can ride him to your delight?"

Temari blushed before shaking her head.

"A-Aren't we supposed to figure out how this will work out?"

Kurenai took a big drink of her sake before replying.

"Hhhhmmm. Well we could take turns with him on different days, or do you have something else in mind?"

Temari took a drink before replying.

"I guess we could do it like that but, then there could be days were he isn't around and on a mission. And then we wouldn't have much to do if it was just you and me in Konoha while he's away or something."

Temari then decided to ask her something.

"What if we both want him on the same day or say he's too tired to please us?"

Kurenai thought for a moment before she got a grin on her face as an idea came to mind.

"There is one idea I got and I KNOW it will make Shika-kun happy as well as help us relieve any stress."

Temari was wondering what she was thinking before her eyes widen and a thought crossed her mind.

'_She couldn't mean doing THAT?!'_

The red eyed beauty saw the look in her eyes before nodding and answering her unspoken question.

"Yes Temari, we should have a threesome with Shika-kun so that way we are both satisfied."

The Suna kunoichi became flustered and her face took on a shade of red before pouring herself some more sake and gulped it down to help her relax. Then she to the woman before her and asked.

"Are…Are you really serious about this?"

"I am Temari, and to be honest it would make things easier for us both."

"B-B-But I…I never kissed a woman before!"

Kurenai got concerned and decided to ask her something.

"Have you and Shikamaru kissed yet?"

"Well…yes but not in public, since it was personal to us both."

"I take it you never kissed a woman before though?"

Temari shook her head to show that she hadn't ever done that. Kurenai then decided to break the ice and replied.

"Then how about you and I kiss to see if we like it?"

The blonde kunoichi for once was a little unsure of herself, but figured she might as well give it a shot. So she shrugged her shoulders before replying.

"Sure I guess why not?"

Both women set their cups down and sat closer to each other. They remained were they where since both didn't know who should start first. After a minute Temari decided to be the bold one and leaned forward with her eyes closed and her face going toward Kurenai's. The red eyed beauty leaned forward as well and soon their lips meet with one another's in a soft kiss.

Instantly both women were shocked at what they were doing to each other but soon that shock slowly turned to pleasure as both women started to feel hot whether it was from the alcohol or their instincts.

Soon both women began to relax as Kurenai decided to be the bolder one and slipped her tongue in Temari's mouth continuing the kiss. The Suna kunoichi became surprised but then she began to moan in pleasure from what she was experiencing. She decided to have her tongue meet Kurenai's and both women began wrestling for dominance with their tongues moaning in pleasure at what they were doing. After a minute or two they broke the kiss panting for air, with Kurenai licking her lips like she had just tasted the sweetest wine she ever drank. Temari was more vocal about how she felt.

"Wow. That actually felt…good."

"I agree as right now I want to see what the rest of you taste like Temari-chan."

The Suna kunoichi could only give one reply.

"Huh?"

(Lemon Time)

Kurenai leaned forward and captured Temari in another kiss her tongue invading Temari's mouth, then without hesitation her hands began to roam on the front of the blonde beauty's chest, squeezing her covered breast and rubbing her sides slow and sensually.

Temari was frozen in shock and didn't know how to respond to what was going on, but then her body stated to betray her as she was beginning to relax and felt sensation from the Genjutsu Mistress's touch.

'_I…I shouldn't be doing this…but…but it feels good!'_

Noticing her dazed expression Kurenai took it a step further by placing her hands on her shoulders and slowly removed the upper part of her battle kimono bringing it halfway down to her waist leaving her in a purple lace bra. She smiled and began to remove the bra while licking the side of Temari's neck and then her face.

"W-W-What are y-y-you doing?"

Kurenai gave a sly smile before saying in a husky filled voice.

"No need to be shy Temari-chan. Like I told you I want to taste every bit of you. Now life your arms up please so I can take this off."

The blonde beauty slowly lifted her arms up for her. Kurenai then undid her bra removing it and dropping it to the floor. She saw that Temari's nipples were becoming hard from being fondled by her. Smiling at this Kurenai began to remove the wrappings around her hands, letting them drop to the floor as well.

With her hands bare she began to fondle Temari's tits once more, admiring the soft and smooth skin and every once and a while pinch her nipples. This caused Temari to gasp in excitement and she shuddered from the treatment she was getting from the Genjutsu Mistress.

That was when Kurenai decided to take things even further by leaning forward and began to lick her right tit on her hardened nipple circling it, teasing it before she enveloped it entirely. She sucked on it enjoying the taste of another woman and was aroused by this. She soon began working on Temari's other tit dominating the Suna kunoichi with her tongue and heard her moan and gasp in pleasure.

"Kurenai-chan! Aaaahhh! Oh kami that…that feels so good!"

"I'm only getting started Temari-chan, and soon you'll be enjoying the rest of the delights to come."

The red-eyed beauty continued her administrations on the blonde beauty fondling, licking and sucking on her breast. She then ended her treatment on Temari's breast before enveloping her in another lust filled kissed, both of them moaning in delight.

Kurenai then gently pushed Temari on her back and began to remove the rest of her kimono pulling them off and leaving her in only her panty's which were silk and purple. Temari was getting aroused even more enjoying every moment of this. That was when Kurenai spoke to her in a light commanding tone.

"Take off your gloves and you Hitai-ate. And let your hair out as I think you would look better."

Temari nodded wordlessly as if she was in a genjutsu and removed her gloves from her hands dropping them to the floor. She then started to remove her Hitai-ate placing it on the table and soon followed by undoing her hair letting it fall from her pigtailed state.

Kurenai smiled and then started to striped in front of her putting on an obvious show for the Suna Kunoichi. Slowly and sensually she removed her dress, letting it fall to the floor leaving her in only dark red silk underwear with matching bra and panties. She then undid her Hitai-ate letting it fall to the floor which made a loud clank as it hit the floor.

Temari licked her lips becoming heated and felt her pussy becoming wet from seeing the beautiful Jonin before her. She wanted to suck on her breast which was larger than hers before using her tongue on her pussy.

Kurenai smiled lustfully before she undid her bra, letting it drop to the floor exposing her well rounded breast and her harden nipples. Then she took her left tit and licked it in a sensual way in front of Temari before she got on her knees and gently parted Temari's legs.

She then took her right finger and began to rub it against Temari's covered vagina slowly and gently, enjoying the sounds coming from her as she whimpered in delight and shaking with excitement. Then without further hesitation she pulled off Temari's panties bringing them down to her ankles and then dropping them on the floor. She then began to rub her smooth beautiful legs causing the Suna Kunoichi to moan in delight. She then spoke to her in a husk filled voice.

"How bad do you want it Temari-chan? Tell me how bad you want me to fuck you silly?"

"Stop talking and start licking! I want to fuck you as hard as Shika-kun!"

"Ooooh! Such a naughty girl you are. Well we will see when you taste me Temari-chan."

Then without another word Kurenai took her two fingers and began to probe Temari's pussy, causing her to gasp and scream light. Her fingers cleverly went in and out, in and out, making the Suna kunoichi grip the couch and shook with delight.

Then Kurenai took her fingers out, covered in Temari's juices, she licked her fingers hungrily enjoying the taste. Then without hesitation she started to lick her clitoris and her outer walls causing her to scream.

"AAAAAHHHH! OOOOOHHHH!"

Temari rocked her hips while fondling with her tits in delight from having her vagina licked and her clitoris sucked on by Kurenai. Then the Genjutsu Mistress inserted her tongue into Temari's inner walls, exploring her pussy with her tongue and proceeded to fuck her with her tongue her head in between Temari's legs.

"YES! YES! FUCK ME! FUCK ME KURENAI!"

Kurenai licked faster and then decided to use her finger again to fuck Temari's vagina causing her to gasp and squeal with delight. Then Kurenai paused in her assault with her tongue but kept using her fingers and spoke to her.

"Cum for me Temari-chan, cum so I can lick up every drop!"

She then removed her fingers and probed her pussy with her tongue once more, causing Temari to scream.

"I'M GOING TO CUM KURENAI! I'M GOING TO CUM HARD!"

After a minute or two from Kurenai's tongue, Temari had reached her limit.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

She lay still breathing heavily from her orgasm sighing in delight from the experience. She then felt herself being pulled up gently by her hands and saw Kurenai wrap her arms around her before capturing her in another kiss. Kurenai and Temari moaned in delight as their tongues explored each other's mouths, and their tongues going against one another.

Soon the kiss between the two ended as Kurenai gave Temari an impish smile and said.

"So Temari-chan, are you ready to taste me?"

Temari smiled and decided to return the favor to her. She began to squeeze Kurenai's tits softly and started licking her neck in a sensual fashion causing her to moan. Then without delay she began leaving a trail of kisses that reached for between her tits and began to lick her right tit, starting with the nipple before she sucked on it using her other hand to fondle her left tit.

Kurenai moaned in absolute bliss as she greatly enjoyed the pleasure she was feeling. Every touch, every time she felt Temari's tongue on her body it was amazing! Soon she felt her other tit being sucked and licked on by the Suna kunoichi causing her to breathe deeply.

Temari stopped in her treatment and looked at the Genjutsu Mistress to speak to her.

"Lie down for me Kurenai-chan."

Kurenai did so and opened her legs for Temari in an inviting manner, smiling at her.

Temari smiled back and without hesitation began to pull down the red silk underwear Kurenai wore and could see her pussy, wet and excited. She also noted that her pubic hairs were neatly trimmed before her.

Temari didn't waste any time as she licked on the labia, causing Kurenai to shudder. She then dove in determined to lick all the juices she could. Kurenai began to feel an erotic spasm as her vagina was assaulted by Temari's tongue.

"Aaaahhhh! Mmmmm! Kami-Sama don't ever stop for me Temari!"

The Genjutsu Mistress relished in absolute bliss, her pussy throbbing, inviting Temari deeper, deeper into her the core, her moist tongue licking Kurenai, until she decided to journey inside of her. She pushed in causing Kurenai to scream with delight, sucking on her clit, having her lusty way with her most private regions.

"OOOOOHHHHH! DEEPER! MAKE ME CUM!

Kurenai's hips started to grind against Temari, causing her to go deeper in. Soon Temari sucked on her clit once again and that was when the red-eyed beauty had her orgasm.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Kurenai moaned enjoying the orgasmic bliss she had just endured from the blonde beauty and took small breaths to relax. Sitting back up, she gesture for Temari to sit up on the couch as well.

The Suna kunoichi got up and sat beside her once more as she was satisfied with her performance to Kurenai. She gave a coy smile and asked.

"So how was I?"

"Very good, but I think there is one more thing to do."

Before Temari could ask what, she was pinned down on her back from Kurenai, with the dark haired woman on top of her. Temari looked up in shock as Kurenai had a predatory grin on her face as she straddled her confidently.

"W-What are you doing?"

"I'm going to fuck you silly Temari-chan."

Without another word Kurenai captured Temari in another kiss, completely on top of her and then started to grind on top of Temari. Temari was surprised at first but soon moaned in absolute bliss as her tongue came to meet Kurenai's along with wrapping her arms around the Genjutsu Mistress. Both women were moaned and groaned with delight and pleasure as they grinded each other tit to tit, vagina to vagina, up and down, up and down. Kurenai was of course dominating Temari lashing her tongue and mashing Temari's pussy. She was in complete control making the Suna kunoichi pleasure her every whim.

Temari broke from her kiss with Kurenai to gasp for air and spoke out.

"Kurenai-chan I'm going to cum! I'm going to cum hard!"

"Cum for me then Temari-chan! Cum for me now!"

Both women went back to kissing each other with a passion, ravishing each other with delight. After for what seemed like forever both women hit their orgasms and screamed in pleasure.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Kurenai collapsed on top of Temari, both of them breathing heavily from the intense sex and orgasm they just experienced. Both women too tired to even move drifted off to sleep in each other embrace with content smiles on their face.

(Lemon End)

Three hours later…

Kurenai awoke with a slight headache and wondered how much she and Temari drank. She also wondered if Temari was still with her in her apartment waiting for the alcohol to wear off before wanting to leave. It was then she realized that she felt drafty and felt that she was on top of something or someone.

'_Oh no, please don't let me think what I think it is!'_

Kurenai slowly open her eyes and realized two things at that moment. One was the she was naked, along with Temari, and two she was on top of the blonde kunoichi with the smell of sex in the air. She was wondering what the hell was going on until it all came back to her in one moment and openly said with disbelief.

"Oh no, not again! What the hell is wrong with me?! Am I some sort of sex-fiend?!"

She then heard groaning and looked to see that Temari was starting to wake up and became worried.

'_Please for the love of Kami don't let her scream or try to strangle me!'_

Temari's eyes slowly open as she was wondering why her body felt hot and tired. She shifted a little and that was when she realized something. She felt someone on top of her and for some reason she felt like she was naked. Her eyes snapped open to see that she was naked and then slowly looked to see Kurenai looking at her with guilt and regret in her eyes.

No one said a single word from that moment as both women were stunned silence at the position they were in. After for what seemed like a minute or two Temari decided to break the silence between them.

"Well…this is a rather…awkward position to find myself in."

Kurenai gave a nervous laugh before replying.

"Yes it is… heh-heh."

Kurenai then spoke with absolute honesty.

"Temari I'm sorry about what just happen between us just now. I honestly didn't think I would go this far with you."

The Suna kunoichi looked at her for a moment and saw the absolute regret and honesty in her eyes. Even the sound of Kurenai's voice was genuine and she knew right then and there she couldn't get mad at her. So without another word she gave her reply to help ease Kurenai.

"Hey don't worry about it. If anything I'm sure this will get the slacker to be more motivated and make it to Jounin if he wants to have a three-way with us every night."

Kurenai's jaw dropped at the joke Temari just made at what the two of them went through. Noticing Kurenai's shocked expression Temari put the Genjutsu Mistress at ease and said to her.

"We talked about what just happen and you did say you wouldn't mind sharing him with me so there is nothing to be sorry about."

Kurenai was relieved to hear this and was happy to know Temari held no ill will towards her and let her know how grateful she is.

"Thank you Temari."

The Suna kunoichi than gave her a serious look.

"But just so you know I'm the one who's going to be on top next time, after we discuss this with Shika-kun."

Kurenai gave her a teasing smirk.

"We'll see."

To Be Continued…

Authors Note

At last, I am FINALLY done with this chapter! First thing I want to address is I am sorry I haven't updated this story or any of my other stories in a while. For one thing real life is a pain and it doesn't help with two of my siblings who are idiots. Another thing is I've been distracted a lot by new stories I've been reading and I got too many ideas going through my head. Hopefully I can get them out soon and organized.

Last week I celebrated my birthday on Thursday. It was okay but it felt kind of lame and I wish I got some excitement out of it. Hopefully someday it will.

I also wish to give a big thank you to King Kakashi for helping me with this chapter as he pointed some things out to me that I didn't realize and I am glad he helped me out. Thank you again Kakashi and I hope you get as much credit for this chapter as well because I couldn't have done this without you.

I have been reading the Naruto manga and lately I'm wondering the fuck is Kishimoto thinking anymore. Sasuke has now come to the rescue, supposedly, with the four resurrected kages and then this asshole has the nerve to say I am going to be Hokage? That to me is a slap in the face to Naruto and even Kiba and Shikamaru know there is no way in hell a traitor like him would ever be Hokage after all the shit he pulled.

Then Kishimoto just had to be a troll and have Naruto say Sakura is his girlfriend when his dad Minato asked him if Sakura was his girlfriend. Honestly why Kishimoto made him look like a douche in the manga I'll never know. Then Sakura suddenly gets all brave and shows off some new skill because Sasuke is there and didn't even praise Naruto but instead the emo avenger. Hell I don't even believe Sasuke is serious about wanting to help Naruto and even Sai knows he can't be trusted.

Only one good thing happens in Chapter 635 of the manga and I am happy to know Tsunade and the other kages are alive and will be there to help out. But the one thing that I am pissed off about is Jiraiya not being there with Tsunade and all of a sudden Orochimaru acts like a good guy? Maybe if we are lucky Jiraiya will appear and say he faked his death.

And yes I am still P'OED that Kishimoto has done nothing about Anko and I hope she is alive still and will continue to be because if she's not, I'll kick Kishimoto's ass and curse him to his grave.

And now I want to wish to share my opinion on pairings like I did last in the last chapter and in my other Naruto story and if anyone is interested than going ahead and read. If not then skip this part. Also please keep in mind this is just my opinion about them. Here are the pairings I like in Naruto, which will be four for now.

Naruto/Yugito

In all honesty I like this pairing because it shows that Naruto is not alone in the world as a Jinchuriki and there are those who understand the hardships of being one. Plus I read about Yugito in the manga, and saw what she can do in the anime. In all honesty I wish she was developed more in the series, along with the other Jinchuriki. Plus she is very beautiful and a lot of people love her. I read some stories about this paring and I believe it can work.

Naruto/Koyuki

When I saw the first Naruto movie and saw what kind of character Koyuki was, I didn't like her because of how heartless she was. But in the end Naruto helped changed her for the better like he did with many people and I wouldn't be surprised if she grew to love him. Then there was the photo autograph she gave him which was cute and I couldn't help but laugh when she showed him and Kakashi the script for the next movie she would play. LOL! I think she wouldn't mind having Naruto as the lead hero for it.

Naruto/Shizune

I will admit I see Shizune as more of a big sister figure for Naruto than a lover, but even I believe it can work giving how it is writing. Besides even Shizune deserves to have some love and even a family after all she has put up with. Hell she spent over ten or thirteen years of her life taken care of Tsunade without any time for herself and probably more than once got her out of trouble when she gets drunk. Then there is the fact that she and Tsunade are on the run from debt collectors and I am pretty sure even Shizune is getting tired of having to do that. If anything I feel she is underappreciated and never got a chance to have a boyfriend, because once Tsunade is gone then what? She will be too old to live and missed out on things she could have done. I'm sure she felt lonely even though she had Tsunade while traveling. If anything I believe Naruto could help fill her heart with happiness and would make a good husband.

And now the fourth pairing I like and even love along with another which will be for another time.

Naruto/Anko

I always wondered why people liked this pairing and I decided to read a few and found out the reasons to it. And after learning why I loved this paring. Both of them have lead similar lives to one another. Naruto was hated for being the Jinchuriki for Kurama and Anko was hated for being the student of Orochimaru. Then we can see their personalities are a like in more ways than one. Both are loud and brash and have a craving for certain foods, Naruto with ramen and Anko with Dango.

I will admit there are stories that have them act as siblings toward each other but I like seeing them as lovers a little more. They have that kind of chemistry together. Another thing I want to add is I wish Anko was developed more in the manga, including in the anime.

Well that's it for now as I am going to take a break from this story for a bit and work on my other stories and hopefully get a new one out. On the next chapter we will see Shikamaru and what's been going on with him. Plus we will learn about the mission Naruto and Hinata took on and its results. Before I forget I want to say thank you to everyone that has reviewed this story and who have favored it.

See you then.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Because if I did own Naruto there wouldn't be so many anime filler episodes and many characters would have been developed and Naruto wouldn't be thick headed. I would also make sure the Uchiha were not all god like in the series. So without another word let's begin the next chapter.

'Thoughts'

Chapter 6

A Father's Guidance

In a restaurant called the Yakiniku Q there was a young Chunin sitting at a table who was absently just picking at his food. This young man was depressed and for good reason as it had to do with two women involved in his life. One of them was a former lover of his and the other woman was the lover of his deceased sensei, who he had ended up making love with while intoxicated.

Shikamaru Nara couldn't help but sigh for what seemed like the umpteenth time as all he did was stare at his food and pick at it every now and then. For the past two weeks, which soon became three he had felt nothing but misery and regret. He was miserable that he had broken up with Temari who was the first girl he ever liked and soon grew to love. Yes she could be troublesome at times but deep down he knew she had a gentle side to her and she had an intelligence that he found himself impressed with.

Then he felt regret for betraying her even though it was unintentional by sleeping with the Genjutsu Mistress Kurenai Yuhi. It didn't help that both were drinking heavily and the young Nara ended making her cry by accident. In a desperate attempt to comfort her and ease her pain he had kissed her. The next thing he knew, they were making love right there in her apartment.

'_Why did this have to happen to me and Kurenai? Damn it, if only I could have saved Asuma-Sensei, then he would still be with Kurenai and I would still be with Temari and everyone would be happy!'_

He then shook his head at that thought as he felt like he was being selfish and inconsiderate of their feelings. Lately he had been keeping to himself avoiding everyone around him, even his own parents. Chouji had been growing concerned about his best friend and finally spoke to the Nara heir. Shikamaru told his friend that he was just going through some issues and that he would be all right, that he just needed some space. As for Ino, he found out three days ago that she, along with Sakura, Shizune, Hinata, and Naruto went on a high level mission that involved one of the female Daimyos that Naruto had saved and it was the Daimyo from the Land of Vegetables Haruna.

From what he understood there was an attempted assassination on the female Daimyo and she had sent a request to Tsunade for protection and even requested Naruto, Hinata and Choji since they were sent there on a mission before years ago in order to bring her to safety.

Unfortunately Chouji was on another assignment with Neji so Tsunade decided to assign Shino, Kiba, and Ten-Ten on the mission for extra protection. Their mission was to keep watch over Haruna and to find out who it was that was attempting to assassinate the Daimyo from The Land of Vegetables and take down whoever it was in anyway necessary.

'_I honestly wish I had a mission of my own right now since it would be better than being here in the village._'

Sighing the young Chunin decided to pay for his meal and go for a walk around the village while visiting his sensei's grave. Getting up from the table he sat in he made his way to the register to pay for his meal when he heard a voice call out to him.

"I've been looking for you Shikamaru."

The young Nara was surprised to hear someone call out to him and he recognized who the voice belong to. Sighing he turned around to greet the one who spoke out to him.

"Hi Dad."

Shikaku Nara stood in the doorway in his usual slouch position with his arms crossed. Standing beside the head of the Nara Clan was his two long time friends Inoichi Yamanaka, and Choza Akamichi.

"So what can I do for you?"

"I think you and I need to have a talk about something son, but I'm here for a drink as well so I figure I kill two birds with one stone." The elder Nara said before looking at his long time friends and teammates.

"Do you think you guys can give us a moment?"

"Sure thing Shikaku, join us when you're ready." Choza said to his friend as he and Inoichi made their way to the bar for their usual drinks. Shikaku made his way over to his son and sat down opposite against him in another chair. A waitress came over to their table.

"Can I get you something sir?"

"I'll have a bottle of Blazing Inferno Saki please, and make sure to bring a cup for my son as well."

Shikamaru stiffened when he heard his father order a bottle of alcohol and honestly didn't want to drink right now. After what had happen between him and Kurenai he honestly didn't know if he could handle getting drunk again and doing something stupid.

"Son are you okay?"

The young Nara was brought back by his father's voice and responded back to him.

"I'm fine Dad, really I am but I honestly don't feel like drinking as it would be too troublesome."

The elder Nara gave his son a suspicious look as he was wondering why his son was reluctant to drink with him and wondered if he drank before? He then dismissed the thought as he didn't honestly believe his son ever touched a bottle in his life.

"Shikamaru, I don't think one drink will hurt or even a few. Plus it would be too troublesome to drink this on my own so for your old man just share it with me. I won't tell your mother if that is what's bothering you and this will be your first time with it."

'_If only you would know Dad.' _The young Nara said to himself as he wasn't sure how his father would take the news of him having a drink with Kurenai before. With a resounding sigh Shikamaru nodded to his father.

"All right, all right, I'll maybe have one or two drinks with you but that's about it."

Nodding in approval he saw the waitress return with his drink and the two glasses he requested. Setting the bottle and the glasses down the waitress bowed to her guest before leaving to fill out other orders.

Shikaku started to fill up the glasses with the alcoholic beverage before serving one to his son and one for himself, but decided to give his son some advice about drinking.

"Make sure to start slow son and not guzzle it down like it's water, otherwise you might end up just puking it out."

"Yeah, yeah I got you Dad." Shikamaru lazily replied though he wanted to tell his old man this wasn't the first time he drank but decided against it. With that thought in mind he decided to ask a question regarding the saki.

"Is this drink really strong?"

Shikaku considered telling him the truth but decided against it as he felt this would be the only way to get his son to open up to him. While it was a sneaky tactic he felt that as soon as his son got a bit drunk he would be able to help him out with his troubles.

"Nah it's not really that strong since I don't want you to fall on your face and have to carry you back home."

Shikaku's son decided to trust his old man and raised his glass to his lips taking a small sip of the saki. He was a little surprised by the taste of it and actually liked it so took another drink from his glass. Looking over to his old man he responded with a small smile.

"This isn't so bad; it's kind of good actually."

Shikaku was a little surprise to see his son not make a face after tasting it before having a smaller drink from his glass which caused him to wonder if his son had drinking before?

"I'm glad that you like it, and I'm surprised you handled it so well for your first time drinking."

Shikamaru could only chuckle nervously at his father's reaction and then thought to himself, _'I wonder if Naruto and Hinata are having an easier time with their relationship?'_

In the Land of Vegetables…

Naruto and Hinata were quietly sitting together with the Daimyo of Vegetable Country, Haruna. The three were currently having tea and enjoying each other's company as they were discussing over old times and the missions both Naruto and Hinata had together and with their own teams.

"It has been a long time since we have seen each other Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan."

"It sure has Haruna-chan. By the look of things you're running the country great and I'm happy to see you've been doing well." The blonde shinobi replied to the female daimyo with a smile.

"I'm happy for you as well Haruna-san." Hinata said to Haruna.

"Thank you, both of you. It is too bad Chouji-san isn't with us right now as I would like to know how things have been with him."

"Chouji went on a mission with my cousin Neji so it couldn't be helped, but he is doing well." Hinata replied to the princess.

The female daimyo nodded taking a sip from her tea and decided to ask a question to Naruto.

"Naruto-kun I was wondering on how things are going between you and Sakura since when you last visited me when you were traveling with Jiraiya and training under him since you said you had strong feelings for her."

The blonde Uzumaki was silent for a minute as he thought over Haruna's question. Naruto had learned about Hinata's true feelings for him several weeks ago thanks to Shikamaru and still felt bad a little for not noticing it sooner since he was so focused on Sakura. Since then he and Hinata had been talking to each other and learning more about each other and several times had kissed, even in public. There were those who still hated Naruto for the Kyuubi and spoken ill of him and even Hinata, but it didn't stop the two from loving each other.

"Naruto-kun are you all right?"

Shaking his head at the sound of Haruna's voice he returned his attention to her and spoke to her.

"I'm fine Haruna-chan, but to be honest with you there really isn't a relationship with me and Sakura. In fact there never was since it was mostly one sided and she only cared about Sasuke."

This surprised Haruna as she thought that Naruto had feelings for the pink haired kunoichi. She had learned from Naruto while he had visited with Jiraiya that he had talked about his feelings for the apprentice of Tsunade and of the promise that he had made to bring back their teammate Sasuke Uchiha, though in all honesty the female daimyo felt that Sasuke was a lost cause and had betrayed the friendship to the young man that had changed her for the better. Haruna was wondering on why Naruto was having a change of heart and decided to ask him about it.

"Naruto-kun if you do not mind me asking why do you feel that way about Sakura? From what you told me before you cared a great deal about her. So what has changed your feelings about her?"

The blonde Uzumaki sighed before looking at his friend to respond.

"My feelings for her changed when I had a talk with Shikamaru when I was helping him out with a problem of his own. All I will say is it had something to do with his relationship with someone close to him and I told him I was always jealous of him with the relationship he had with his girlfriend and that I honestly wish I had that kind of relationship with Sakura. It was then he told me I should quit focusing so much of my attention on her because she will always be obsessed with Sasuke and always will be. Another thing he told me is if I just opened my eyes and take a look around, I would see a girl who I could have a relationship with and when I asked who he was talking about, he told me it was Hinata."

"What was your reaction to that?" Haruna was curious and very interested as from what she was hearing from Naruto, this Shikamaru sounded like a good friend and very trust worthy.

"When I learned it was Hinata I was surprised and I never realized it since I was so focused on Sakura. When I asked him how come no one ever told me, he said that ether I would have found out on my own or that Hinata would get over her shyness and work up the courage to ask me out herself."

"If anything, they should have told you anyway as it would have saved both you and Hinata the trouble."

Sighing the blonde Uzumaki nodded before replying.

"Honestly I wish they did tell me and I've felt bad for not noticing sooner. I've done so much for Sakura as both a teammate and a friend but she's always going to pine for Sasuke. So I would rather be the first choice for someone like Hinata rather than being a second choice."

Hinata decided to speak up to help her lover relax and calm him down as she knew he was still getting used to his new feelings towards her.

"Naruto-kun it is all right. I already told you before that I too share the blame as I was too shy to let you know and not speaking up or asking you if you felt the same way as I did toward you."

Naruto smiled nodding at her before Haruna decided to ask a question.

"If you do not mind me asking you two, how exactly did you and Sakura meet and what made you attracted to her Naruto-kun?"

"This may take a while so I hope you're ready for this."

Naruto began to tell Haruna on how he meet Sakura, on how she was being bullied by a couple of girls who always picked on her and had stolen from her, to when he got the locket back for her and how she thanked him afterwards for helping her.

"After what I heard I'm surprised that you would stop trying to gain her affection after so long. Did something else happen?"

"Something did happen Haruna-san and Naruto-kun told me this about five days after he told me on how he meet Sakura and helped her." Hinata spoke up to the female daimyo.

"What was it?"

Hinata looked to her boyfriend and saw that he was hesitant to retell this story as it was a sad memory for him. Setting her tea cup down she gently placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to look at her and she gave him a kind and encouraging smile for him to take his time. Taking a deep breath Naruto set his cup down before looking Haruna in the eyes.

"It all started about two months ago after Sasuke lost both his family and his clan to his brother."

Flashback to eight years ago…

It was a bright afternoon at the shinobi academy and the students were outside having lunch enjoying the weather. Many of the students were enjoying their lunches and some were chatting with their friends. Some sat alone enjoying the peace and quiet while eating their lunches.

Naruto was looking for Sakura as he had wanted to ask her out to Ichiraku's for some ramen after school. Like everyone else he had heard about the tragic event that had happen two months ago with Sasuke's clan and wondered if he was going to be okay? The Uchiha was now an orphan like him but the only difference was that he knew who his parents and clan were while the young blonde had no knowledge of his own family or if he even had a clan like everyone he knew in the village.

'_I wonder if I should try to be friends with the guy. I honestly don't know him all that well other than he's from one of the clans who helped founded Konoha like the old man told me before when he talked about his sensei.'_

He simply shrugged his shoulders as he continued his search for his friend and hoped that she was able to go out with him this time. Looking around he finally spotted the pink haired girl and quickly made his way over to her and shouted out his usual greeting.

"Hey Sakura-chan!"

The girl in question turned around wondering who was calling out to her and saw who it was before sighing and gave him an annoyed look.

"What is it this time Naruto?"

This surprised the young blonde as he wondered on why she was acting this way toward him? Over the last few weeks she had been getting distant from him and seemed to be more focused on the one topic that had everyone's attention which happens to be the last loyal Uchiha.

"Sakura-chan what is wrong?"

"Are you going to try and ask me out again? I already told you that I don't want to go out with you and that should have been the end of it."

"But Sakura-chan I don't understand. We always went out before a few times but now it's like you have been avoiding me. What gives?"

"Do I always have to go out with you Naruto? Honestly it's not like we're a couple so just leave me alone."

Before the young Uzumaki could reply he heard a sound of excited voices and turned to see what the commotion was about and saw who was coming out of the academy building. Sasuke was making his way over to another side of the field to eat his lunch while ignoring many of his classmates, the girls included. Among the group of girls was Ino who was shoving through to get to the Uchiha.

Naruto could only frown as he looked at Sasuke and honestly wondered if he was worth becoming friends with him. Seeing how he was glaring at some of the other girls and ignoring some of the people who were trying to befriend him, he was wondering why he didn't accept their friendship. If it was him he would be more than happy to receive help after losing a family and finding the right girl would be a bonus since he wanted to have a family of his own one day.

"Ino-pig is NOT going to be sitting next to Sasuke-kun this time. I'm going to be the one that gets his heart!"

Naruto looked at Sakura in shock as he had never heard her speak that way about her before. While he and Ino didn't associate with each other much, he knew that she and Sakura were the best of friends since Ino had helped her out before but now Sakura was calling her names? Just what was going on?

"What's with you Sakura-chan?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't understand on why you are calling Ino names. You guys are friends and she's helped you out but now you are acting like she is your worst enemy."

The pink haired academy student gave him an annoyed look.

"It's not any of your business Naruto so just stay out of it."

Sakura turned to leave when she felt her arm being grabbed and turned to see Naruto but was shocked when he was giving her a look of utter disappointment and a little bit of anger.

"Sakura you better not end your friendship with Ino over something stupid like trying to get Sasuke to like you because if you do you will end up regretting losing your friend who might be your teammate one day. Sasuke isn't even trying to be nice to anyone because all he is doing is just giving everyone an attitude and is only ignoring everyone around him."

"Will you let go of me Naruto! Besides what do you know Sasuke and I might get on the same team as well and right now he's dealing with a lot of pain that you wouldn't know anything about."

The young Uzumaki became upset at what he had just heard from Sakura and out of anger he shouted at her.

"I know plenty of what's it like to be alone you spoiled brat! I haven't had a family ever and yet you don't see me acting like a jerk or pushing people away like Sasuke has been doing. Honestly Sakura ever since he lost his family you've just been following the crowed like a blind man and even ended your friendship with Ino over something that is pointless and stupid."

WHAM!

Naruto fell backwards landing on his rear. Slowly bringing his right hand up to his face he winced in pain after touching his right cheek which was red and starting to swell up. He couldn't believe at what just happened. Sakura had punched him! Before he could say anything what the pink haired girl did next would hurt worst more than the physical contact.

"WHOULD YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY NARUTO! KAMI YOU ARE JUST A STUPID SELFISH SPOILED BRAT THAT DOES ANYTHING GOT ATTENTION AND I AM GETTIGN SICK OF IT, ALONG WITH EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE! THERE IS NO WAY I OR ANY OTHER GIRL WOULD WANT TO GO OUT WITH SOMEONE AS ANNOYING AND UGLY AS YOU SINCE YOU ARE JUST A STUPID BRAT WHO IS LOUD AND A TALENTLESS LOSER! I HATE TO WONDER IF YOUR PARENTS WERE EVEN WORSE THAN YOU!"

Sakura than turned around and stomped off to get away from him. Had anyone been around they would have seen Naruto with a look that would make even the most stoic member of the Hyuga and Aburame Clan shed a tear if they saw him right now. Naruto was crying and his eyes were full of hurt and betrayal as he never would have thought Sakura, the first person who had ever been kind to him, other than Iruka and the Third Hokage, would say or do what she had done to him just. Slowly standing up Naruto decided to ditch school for the day as he couldn't deal with what had happen to him and made his way to the fence to climb over to leave.

End of flashback…

Naruto took a deep shaky breath after he had finished his tale. Bringing up painful memory's wasn't easy for him since he had a poor childhood but had always kept in mind that no matter how bad he had it he knew there was someone who had it worst. His late friend Haku and Gaara were prime examples of those who had gone through much hardship in their life.

Haruna could not help but be upset after what she had just heard about what happen between Naruto and Sakura. In her honest opinion Tsunade's student was undeserving of such loyalty and love from the very man that helped changed her for the better. Hinata was just as upset since she wondered why Sakura never saw the man before her as one of the best things to ever happen in their lives and a part her wanted to slap Sakura more than once for all the times she hit Naruto when he didn't deserve it.

The female daimyo of Vegetable Country had similar thoughts like Hinata as one thing came to mind.

'_If I ever see that little brat I will slap her so hard her head will spin. Just what was the Hokage thinking taking a spoiled brat like that as an apprentice?'_

Back in Konoha…

Tsunade was going over some paperwork when she felt a small chill go down her spin and couldn't help but wonder what it was.

'_Why do I have this feeling Sakura just pissed off someone close to Naruto? I really hope she didn't do anything stupid.'_

Back to Naruto and Hinata in Vegetable Country…

"I'm sorry you went through such a poor experience Naruto-kun. I can't honestly believe Sakura would do something like that especially since you helped her out before."

"It's okay Haruna. We were both just kids and I will admit I was desperate for attention but I really did care about Sakura and didn't want her to lose friends because she had feelings for Sasuke."

"It's not all right!"

Naruto was shocked to hear Hinata yell like that and saw the look of anger in her eyes.

"Naruto-kun I know you care for everyone but Sakura still had no right to say those things to you or even hit you since she couldn't tell real love from a silly crush she had for Sasuke. The fact she never apologized to you the next day and so on proves she is just shallow and selfish."

"She is right Naruto. You should have stopped chasing after her ever sense she said those things to you and all because of someone who held no love for her whatsoever."

Looking back and forth between Hinata and Haruna Naruto honestly wanted to say something in his teammates defense but stopped himself as he thought over of when Sakura was ever nice to him? Sure there were a few times she was kind to him and even helped out but it was mostly outweighed by all the negative events when she did hit him for reasons that were uncalled for, or even saying mean things to him, and outright saying stupid things she thought were funny like with Shion foreseeing Naruto's death from before but he defied what the priestess thought to be his end.

A part of him began to ever wonder if the student of Tsunade ever truly cared for him at all and would she even thank him if he ever did bring back their lost teammate? The answer to that question was looking more and more a big fat no and he honestly hated it but realized that all Sakura would ever be to him was a friend and a teammate and nothing more. He could only hope Sakura didn't do anything to ruin their friendship like she did with Ino.

With a resounding sigh he could only the student of Jiraiya looked to both women before answering.

"You're right Hinata-chan, and Haruna-chan. I can't make excuses for Sakura as she did do some stupid things too, but I at least want to stay friends with her since I believe she needs that more than a lover right now. Maybe I was trying too hard to have her love me and it only made things worse."

"It's all right Naruto-kun, Haruna and I already know that you don't want to hurt anyone and that you value friendship with everyone back home."

The blonde shinobi could only smile at his girlfriend and honestly wish he knew about Hinata's feelings sooner. He began wondering about his friend Shikamaru and honestly hoped that he was all right and that someone was helping him out right now.

Back in Konoha, at the Yakiniku Q…

The Chunin in question had been drinking for the last two hours with his father, though if one were to look they would see the young Nara was a little past his limit. His father on the other hand was only slightly buzzed from the amount of Saki they had but had made sure to order a few appetizers to eat so his son wouldn't pass out anytime soon.

Since that time both he and his son had been talking about the usually things that went on with their lives from friends to even some missions they went through. They soon began to talk about random things going on that were either silly or just something that was of little interest. But within the hour Shikamaru began talking to his father about Naruto and Hinata.

"So Naruto FINALLY knows how Hinata feels about him? HAHAHA! It's about time he learned about that girls feelings! Though I wonder how this will affect Tsunade's apprentice."

"Yeah I know, hic, if anything I'm happy I managed to help him, hic, to finally, hic, open his eyes, hic, and see there are a LOT better looking babes, hic, than Sakura!"

This caught the elder Nara's attention as he wondered what his son meant about that. Noticing his father's interest in what said he waved a hand off and explained.

"Ah it's nothing big old man. At first I thought it was funny the way Naruto went after that banshee but now I realize that him going after her would be too troublesome and that he should be with someone a lot nicer and not a total Uchiha-fan girl."

Taking a huge drink from his glass Shikaku decided to ask his drunken son about it.

"Did something happen to make you help out the blonde gaki?"

"Ah it was nothing, just something between me and Temari." It was then Shikamaru's eyes widen in shock as he had unintentionally brought up the one thing he didn't wish to discuss with his parent and hoped his father didn't ask. Unfortunately his father was not going to drop the matter.

"So what exactly happen to you and Temari? Whatever it is I'm sure it was nothing big son."

The student of Asuma poured himself another drink before gulping it down and gave a nervous laugh to his parent.

"Eh…Ah hahaha…What gave you that idea?"

"Well for one thing I noticed your eyes pop open like when your mom caught you going through the cookie jar when you were younger and you only did that when you were hiding something or got into trouble."

"N-Nothing is going on Dad, honestly."

The elder Nara was not buying it as he was getting close to making his son slip to telling the truth. He just needed to say the right words to make his son slip in order to find out what had been bothering him the last couple weeks and this was as good as any. So with that in mind he decided to speak out of random.

"All right if you say so, though I honestly didn't think you would have it in you to go after two women at once, ESPECIALLY with the hotty you snagged."

"Wait, what? How did you find out about what happen with me and Kurenai?"

"I didn't you just told me now."

Shikamaru's jaw dropped with his eyes widening in absolute disbelief that he had been tricked by his old man and cursed the alcohol for lowering his guard, no matter how silly it sound. Seeing his son's look of disbelief Shikaku nodded to himself before his face took on a light stern expression.

"Well son, now that I finally got you to open up a little are you going to talk to me or are you going to try and deny it any further because right now I may even get your mother if you continue to be stubborn, and I honestly don't want that because it's such a drag."

Shikamaru did NOT want to even talk about what had happen. He began to formulate a plain in order to change the subject and even bring up that it was just a secret fantasy of his with some of the older women of Konoha like any other guy would dream of but with the way he was now, he was way too drunk to even come up with something simple and would just spout out nonsense. Sighing in defeat the young Chunin only had one thing to say.

"So Dad, were exactly do you want me to start?"

Before his father could reply he saw his two friends approaching them, with Choza rubbing his belly indicating he had a great meal while Inoichi was a little buzzed and was the first to respond.

"Hey Shikaku, me and Choza are goanna head back home, so we'll have our group drink next time. In fact bring your son and Shibi along so that way we can have a poker night or something."

"Yeah okay, we will do this again next week or maybe in two weeks since I've got to make sure Yoshino-chan doesn't get on my case and say I'm slacking."

After sharing a good laugh with each other both Choza and Inoichi left the restaurant leaving the two Nara's by themselves to finish their discussion with one another.

"Okay Shikamaru, now that their gone how about you start with your troubles and why they involve not only Temari, but Kurenai as well."

Shikamaru honestly didn't want to bring this up again as he felt that the only ones who should know about it were himself, Naruto, Hinata, Kurenai and Temari, though he honestly wondered if Gaara would find out about it somehow. Taking another drink of the saki before him he looked his old man in the eye.

"This is going to take a long while old man so be ready and I'm glad Mom isn't here because she would so whip my ass for this."

Without any delay Shikamaru began to tell his father on how it all started with him visiting Kurenai which was the day before he went out to avenge his sensei with his friends. He explained to his father on how the Genjutsu Mistress was currently drinking and invited him in to talk to and to let him give his condolences to her. Shikaku was even told about him drinking with her that very night.

"So it wasn't your first time drinking with me? I'm honestly a little disappointed you didn't have your first drink with me and the guys."

"I honestly will never get used to doing it if I go out drinking with you and the others."

"Well I did tell you to try and comfort her in anyway and I can imagine that you two did a lot of drinking that night."

"Yeah well I honestly wish I didn't drink so much that night as it lead to one of the biggest regrets I've had in my life."

"What exactly do you mean son?"

Sighing for a minute he looked his father in the eyes with a serious expression.

"What happen next was that I unintentionally made Kurenai cry, because I said something nice like Asuma-sensei said to her once before."

"What did you say to her son?"

"I called her a rare beautiful flower that deserves to be loved and nurtured."

Shikaku stared at his son for a moment to take in what he just heard from him. Then after a minute or two he couldn't help but start laughing.

"AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MAN ARE YOU SERIOUS SON! HAHAHAHA!"

Shikamaru was shocked to see his father laughing at him but it soon turned to anger as he angrily slammed his fist onto the table catching his father off guard.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY OLD MAN? DO YOU FIND SOMETHING LIKE THAT STUPID?"

"Whoa, whoa, son I didn't mean anything like that calm down!" His father held his hands up defensively before replying calmly back to him. "I wasn't laughing at you because of what you called Kurenai, I was laughing because it reminded me when I was drunk and I said stuff like that to your mother when I'm drunk."

Shikamaru calmed down after hearing this before sighing.

"Sorry about that Dad, I honestly thought you were making fun of me. Plus I'm surprised to hear you say something like that."

"It's all right and sorry for laughing at you but what did you do when she started crying?"

"I panicked and hugged her to calm her down but she was crying still so I did something out of the blue when I remembered about you saying to comfort her."

"What did you do son?"

There was a long moment of silence as Shikamaru didn't even want to know his father's reaction to what he was going to say next but steady himself for it. With a resounding sigh he let it out.

"I…I kissed her."

Shikaku's eyes went wide when he heard this and his mouth hung open. It took him a while to understand what he just heard before he responded.

"I'm sorry son but could you repeat that. I don't think I heard you right."

"You heard exactly like I said, I kissed Kurenai-sensei."

"W-Well at least that was it right, nothing else?"

Shikamaru's cheeks took on a red hue that he could only hold his head down embarrassed on what he was going to say next but his father beat him to it as his eyes went wide with absolute disbelief.

"W-Wait, a-are you saying you and K-Kurenai, did THAT with each other?"

This time Shikamaru's face turned completely red as he could only answer in the barest of whispers.

"Yes."

If Shikamaru were to see the look on his father's face right now he would have sworn that he had died from shock. Shikaku's mind was going into overdrive as he was trying to process what he just heard but it was all becoming clear as day and finally found his voice.

"D-Damn son, I don't know whether to jump for joy that you got your cherry popped by one of the most beautiful kunoichi's in Konoha or to strangle you for going overboard with what you did but that would be a stupid thing for me to say."

"I know since we were both drunk and we ended up sleeping together that night. By the time it was morning I found myself in bed with her and I thought I was going to die since she woke up next to me."

"I'm surprised that your still standing considering Kurenai is considered the Ice Queen of Konoha and can be scary as Anko sometimes."

"Well when she woke up she asked me if I had anything to say to her, so I apologized to her and said I didn't mean to take advantage of her and I only kissed her out of comfort but what came next surprised me."

"What did she do?"

"I was waiting for her to beat me senseless for what happened but instead she kissed me."

Shikaku's eyes bugged out as he couldn't believe it but the look in his son's eyes told him otherwise showing how serious his offspring was.

"She even told me thank you as anyone else would have shrugged it off or even not regrets it, but she was glad that I was being honest and wanting to take responsibility for it."

Shikamaru took a moment to catch his breath before taking the bottle and poured himself another drink only this time it was a small amount before downing it down. Shikaku was absolutely flabbergasted by what he heard and finally found his voice.

"Son, does anyone else know about this or is it just you and Kurenai?"

"No Dad, the only ones who know about this besides me and Kurenai are Naruto, Hinata, and Temari which is why what I'm about to explain next is the reason for my behavior."

"When did you tell Naruto about this?"

"It was about a couple days after we avenged Asuma-sensei that he found out I wasn't myself and knew something was wrong. At first I honestly didn't want to talk about it but I decided to anyway with him and once he learned what was going on he explained to me that if I didn't say anything it would only do more harm than good and that it would cause bad relations between Suna and Konoha. There was also the fact Temari is the older sister of the Kazakage."

Shikaku nodded in understanding since if it were learned of what happen Temari would want to go after Kurenai and while he had no doubt in his mind she could handle herself against Gaara's sister it would be seen as an act of war between the two and could cause the alliance between Suna and Konoha to end permanently.

"So I decided to trust Naruto's judgment and come clean with Temari on what happen. Plus I figure I help him out by letting him know about Hinata. Reason I did so was because he honestly deserves to be the first choice of someone that actually cares for him instead of being a second choice."

"Did he say something to make you help him out?"

"Yeah he said that he was jealous of my relationship with Temari and that he wished he had the same thing with Sakura. I let him know that Sakura would always pine for that asshole Sasuke no matter what, so I let him know about Hinata because he deserves some happiness after putting up with someone like Sakura."

"You don't like her or Sasuke do you son?"

The young Nara was silent for a minute before sighing.

"I honestly don't like Sasuke and never have. Back then I always found his attitude to be such a drag and Ino wasted too much of her time going after someone that had no interest in her which was just stupid. As for Sakura I didn't mind her much but ever since she became Tsunade's apprentice she has started being a real bitch with some anger issues and even started acting like Sasuke a few times just because she was the apprentice to Tsunade."

"That happens to people sometimes. Anyway we are getting off topic so what happen next?"

Both father and son decided to take another drink from their glasses feeling even more buzzed from before but both of them still managed to carry on with the conversation. After finishing his drink Shikamaru continued on where he left off.

"So Naruto and I decided to look for both Temari and Hinata to talk with them, separately just so you know and I decided I would come clean with her about what happen, but I wanted to break up with her because of what I did."

"You broke up with Temari?" Shikaku was shocked to hear this and finally understood on why Temari didn't visit his home as much. Whatever was said between the two must have been very deep and urged his son to continue.

Shikamaru nodded and further explained the outcome of him telling the Suna kunoichi the truth and the breakup that had transpired between the two of them. On how Temari slapped him and the harsh words exchanged by her and Shikamaru wanting to avoid a possible war because of him and letting her know she deserved better than him because of his intoxication.

"After we broke up, we haven't spoken to each other and I've been avoiding not only her but Kurenai as well. Naruto was worried about me and felt bad about the advice he gave me but I assured him it wasn't his fault for what happen since it wasn't what either of us expected. I also told him I hope he and Hinata have better luck with their relationship and didn't end up like me and Temari."

Shikaku could see the depression and hurt in his son's eyes as this wasn't easy for him to talk about. The elder Nara knew right now that his offspring needed some serious advice for something like this and it was then that a thought came to mind.

'_I might as well ask him a question about something that's been bothering me before letting him know about my own secret.'_

"Shikamaru, did Kurenai say anything else to you after you apologized to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I get the feeling you were hiding something else in the end after you woke up with Kurenai and something tells me that she must have said something else so spill it as there is no point in hiding it anymore."

The young Chunin wanted to deny whatever his father was asking but could only sigh and shake his head deciding to get it out as it was pointless anymore.

"Kurenai did tell me something else and I honestly believe she was joking when she was saying this. She told me if Temari found out to let her know she wouldn't mind sharing me with her. Ha! As if something like that would ever happen."

"You don't know for sure son because it happened to me once."

There was an awkward silence as nothing was said by ether one of them but it ended when Shikamaru's eyes bugged out and he sputtered.

"W-W-W-What did you say?"

Shikaku couldn't help but chuckle at his son's reaction to what he said to him.

"You heard me the first time son. When I was around my teens, I was dating your mother around that time and we were friends with one of her fellow kunoichi she went on missions with."

"Who was this woman that mom was friends with?"

"Your mother's friend was Kiba's mother, Tsume Inuzuka."

Shikamaru became surprised to hear this as he had no idea that his mother was friends with Kiba's mother.

'_Then again, both of them are scary as hell so it's no surprise.'_

"Not to interrupt or anything but what does Kiba's mom have to do with this?"

"I will be getting to that soon so be patient son. So anyway there were times that we hung out with one another and worked with her on several missions that we formed a closed bound with each other just like with Inoichi and Choza with all three of us agreeing to watch out for each other's family and the same thing happened with the other clans."

Pausing to catch his breath for a minute, the Nara clan head took a sip from his glass before continuing.

"Anyway there was this one night that me, your mother and Tsume went out to celebrate my promotion to Tokubetsu Jonin, thought it was such a drag in my view. Of course your mother would not take no for an answer and both she and Tsume dragged me out to our favorite bar drinking like we just won a war against one of the five great nations."

He chuckled at the memory and could only imaging his son's reaction on what he was going to say next.

"We were drinking for what seemed like hours on end and had to walk home over to my place since we didn't want Tsume to end up walking alone and getting taking advantage of by some creep. There wasn't anyone home but the three of us and we figured we could sneak one of your grandfather's liquor for a small drink."

Shikamaru could only shake his head while hearing this. To think both his parent's and Kiba's mother were like that when they were younger was amusing and surprising but he was curious on what happened next. His father didn't disappoint him.

"What we didn't know was that the bottle I grabbed was a special juice that had some serious herbs that made people trip out to relax from stress or to have a good time. To put it bluntly you got high."

"Whoa, that isn't something I expected to happen to you or Mom, let alone Tsume-san."

"True but what happen next was something none of us ever expected. Care to guess what it was?"

Shikamaru thought over it for only about a minute or two before his eyes widen in disbelief. While he was drunk at the moment he could still think and deduce on what his father was asking him before he stuttered out his response.

"Y-Y-Y-You mean to tell me t-that you had sex with BOTH Mom and Tsume?"

Shikaku's face blushed red before clearing his throat.

"Yes son, that had happen and boy were those two a demon in the sack."

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT!"

"SHHHHHHHHHH! Keep your voice down baka!"

The young Nara noticed that some of the other customers were looking at him wondering what was going before sighing and returning his voice to his normal volume.

"Sorry about that Dad, but please don't ever say something like that again."

Shikaku nodded to his offspring before continuing were he left off.

"I honestly can't remember how long we were at it but I woke up the next morning to find both of them in bed with me and I honestly thought that they were goanna kill me for it, Tsume more so since her father had an arranged marriage set up for her."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious and when they both woke up they were shocked and a little upset to find themselves in the same bed with me. I managed to calm them both down and to find out what happen when I looked over the bottle we had drank realizing what it was before explaining to them about the affects it had. Though I felt guilty about what happen and I told the both of them that I was willing to take responsibility for what happened and even give up my life so that neither of them was dishonored for what had transpired."

Shikamaru became shocked hearing this as he never heard his father talk like this before and wondered on what the outcome was.

"Tsume however didn't want me to die for what happen since we were reckless and all three of us were intoxicated. She said that she would speak with her father and take any punishment necessary since the Inuzuka valued loyalty and friendship, including life mates."

Pausing to catch his breath the elder Nara continued.

"Your mother was worried for her friend as she didn't want her to be disowned by her family. Yoshino-chan said that she would take responsibility and try to talk it over with Tsume's father, but then I decided that to say that I should go and suggested to marry both her and your mother as a way to strengthen both clans."

"So how did you three settle this?"

Shikaku could only sigh before taking a drink to calm his nerves since this was something he would rather forget but he know it would be impossible and it would help his son out of the mess he was in.

"We decided that we should keep this to ourselves even though we didn't like the idea of lying to our family's but we swore to one another that any children we had went through the same thing we did we would make sure to tell them about it and help out anyway we can."

"That was it?"

"Yes son it was and now here is what I think you should do."

"I'm listening."

"I believe that you should find Kurenai and ask her if she was serious about wanting to have a relationship with both you AND Temari."

Shikamaru was shocked to hear this from his father's suggestion as he honestly did NOT want to confront her with such a question since he didn't deserve either woman. His father notices his hesitation though and looked at him sternly.

"Shikamaru you need to talk this over with her and Temari otherwise you will be miserable for the rest of your life and so will they. If you don't do this then it will be one of your biggest regrets ever. Trust me on this one."

The young Chunin could see the look in his father's eyes and knew he was right. If he didn't talk with ether one of them than the next time they saw each other it would not be on the best terms and both women might end up with someone else that wasn't meant for them. Sighing he nodded his head before replying to his father.

"All right Dad, first thing tomorrow I'll talk with Kurenai and ask her if she was serious on what she said."

Shikaku couldn't help but smile at his offspring.

"I'm happy to hear this from you son."

"One question though."

"What's that?"

Shikamaru was embarrassed to ask this but he felt it necessary.

"Do you and Mom…you know…see Tsume once in a while since Kiba's Dad no longer lives with them?"

Yoshino's husband could only blush before responding.

"Well…ahem…yeah we once in a while do that and…you know do what I think you, Kurenai and Temari might do if you work things out."

SLAM!

Shikamaru's head slammed hearing this before shaking it to clear it from the shock and small pain before responding.

"Great I need another drink."

To Be Continued…

Authors Note

Before anything else is said I want to give a shout out and say thank you to my good friend and fellow author KingKakashi for helping me out with this chapter as I couldn't have done it without him. He pointed out some mistakes I made and gave me some suggestions for this story such as the idea of writing the scene were both Shikamaru and his father getting drunk.

And now for those who are wondering, yes this story is NOT dead, I've just been bothered by real life a LOT and it can be a bitch. LOL! Also I've been reading the manga series Toriko and I wish I read this years ago as it's pretty awesome. I've read like a 216 chapters already and I got a lot more to go, plus I've been meaning to catch up on -man as I haven't read the manga in a while but I saw a couple episodes.

I want to take a moment to talk about what's been going on in the Naruto manga and quite frankly I want to punch Kishimoto in the face with what he's been doing. One of my biggest complaints is Chapters 670 and 671. For Chapter 670 it is what the Rikkudo Sannin said to Naruto not being able to be like his parents even though he was born under them, which I find to be a load of crap. Then Kishimoto has Naruto look more like an idiot when the Sage of Six Paths is trying to talk to him, and then we find out said sage has a twin brother who helped fight the Jubi but it was never explained what happen to him. Not only that this is yet another rip off of Dragon Ball Z which makes me wonder if the Rikkudo Sannin is an alien or a half human-half demon since said sage's mother looked like a demon.

Another thing is about Ashura, one of the sage's son's, Naruto is supposed to be a reincarnation of the guy and I learn that all of a sudden that the guy was talentless except for his brother Indra, who happens to have eyes like a certain emo-avenger, and just happens to be talented. But that's not it; Indra's reincarnation is none other than Sasuke which is stupid.

The reason I say this is because the next chapter Naruto says he wants to protect everyone, and all of a sudden Sasuke is the same way? That is just bull crap in my view. I hate Chapter 670 more because of what the sage said to Naruto, about his parents being excellent in everything in the shinobi art but Naruto can't inherit their potential which is why I find this to be a slap in the face to me and others who like Naruto.

Though I found what happened in Chapter 682 to be funny I didn't like the fact that Kishimoto made Naruto to be like Jiraiya which is just stupid and uncreative. So basically Naruto being like Jiraiya, all someone has to do is show Naruto a pair of tits and then gets his throat slit. I'm not saying that would happen but it's just a figure of speech. I also hated Chapter 678 of the manga were Sasuke is being an asshole and Naruto calls him out on it but then Kishimoto once again has the emo-douchebag steeling the spotlight with Kakashi agreeing with him about his stupid eye protecting him and the others from the Infinite Tsukuyomi. I saw everyone's dream in that chapter and I hated Ino's and Tsunade's. Really Kishimoto do you enjoy making women looking shallow and self-centered? I'm starting to wonder if this guy is a sexist.

Yes I am STILL pissed off that Kishimoto has done nothing about Anko, making me wonder if she's still alive and if he has killed her off like he did with Neji, Jiraiya, Asuma, and everyone else that has died that was cool in the series I will so kick his ass and curse him to his grave.

Before I forget I have a new poll up along with a new rant. I'll wait till it has a few more votes before taking it down and putting up a new one with a question I would like to ask everyone. Normally I would bring up the topic for my opinions on Naruto pairings like the last chapter but I figure not this time and maybe the next chapter I will.

Also thank you to those who read, review and added me to their favorites. On the next chapter will be the meeting between Shikamaru and Kurenai. See you then everyone.


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